Using Design Sprint to Speed ​​Up the Innovation Process (part 2 of 2)

In the first part of the article, we talked about our motivation for using Design Sprint, about some key components and significant differences from the format offered by Google Ventures. In this part of the article, we will talk about the process by the day, highlighting some aspects that can help you conduct your own Design Sprint.

Day 1 - Decompose and proceed

On the first day, we shared with the team knowledge about the market segment we are interested in and our user base. The aim of the work on the first day was to outline the conjuncture and agree on the consumer portrait of our potential buyer for whom the product will be created.



The first day we started with a huge amount of information. The strategic planning group at that time has already completed the Work to Execution Analysis (JTBD), while the UX and product release groups have gone through countless hours of user research over the past couple years. The information was presented to the team in the form of significant market gaps and high-level personalities.



There was a real threat that the first day would turn into a “deadly boredom” because of the presentation in PowerPoint. Fortunately, nothing like this happened. Thanks to a couple of tricks, our coordinator ensured that everyone was involved and engaged in something for the whole day.

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Tip # 1 Homework and practice presentations



Before we started the sprint, we were given homework. Each team member had to prepare a two-minute presentation about the competitor (without PowerPoint). In addition, each of us had to talk for two minutes about what inspires us. During these mini-presentations, the secretaries alternated, each of whom expressed his opinion on the presentation of each group.



If we drop the sprint itself, this exercise helped us achieve several points:



• everyone had to speak;

• the need to make notes meant that everyone had to listen carefully;

• a review of competitors took us into the space of opportunity;

• Discussion of inspiration made us think about more extensive ideas.



As a result, the day was full of lively discussions, challenging prejudices and clarifying concepts. By the second day we came up with ready points of view on the existing problem.

Day 2 - Empathy Creation

On the second day, there was a real feeling that everyone already wanted to take on the design and start making sketches. We have already passed the understanding of the problem, so this was a normal reaction. In fact, the Google Ventures format recommends sketching on the second day.



Instead of creating sketches, we decided to spend the whole day diving into the thoughts of the users. We spent the day creating a user movement map and empathy card.



What we got turned out to be several bright color schemes of our target market - a set of small companies and individuals.



Tip # 2 Spend time building empathy



Not every member of your team will have the same idea of ​​what it is like to be in the place of your user. It would be tempting to skip this step, but we do not understand much of the motivations and fears that our users occupy. This allowed us to have a more informative discussion and discussion as the design progresses.



The rest of the week, we referred to the companies and people we created. We also reviewed and challenged their aspects as we tested them for real users.

Day 3 - Submit and Test

Before we could start making sketches, we needed to solve some fairly specific problems. Up to this point, we have built a common understanding of the space of opportunity and our target market.



Empathy maps and displacement maps, as well as the exercise “how we would act”, allowed us to formulate problems that were specific enough to be solved with a sheet of paper and a pen.



We spent some time grouping them and assigning them priority, and before that, each team chose one card “how we would act” and started sketching possible solutions.



From the point of view of creating sketches, we followed a fairly standard design studio process using the materials described in the first part.



Tip # 3 Take the time to “learn” to draw

At the beginning of the day we performed the exercise “learning to draw”. This convinced us that the whole team made sketches with similar accuracy and surprisingly cohesive appearance. Here are some steps you can follow to improve your interface sketching skills:



• Draw the interface with a thin marker;

• Main structural components hover with a thicker marker;

• The most important structural aspects of design highlight with a color marker;

• Shade the background with a light gray marker. This will make the elements in the foreground stand out.



At one o'clock our first group of test participants arrived. All doubts that our paper prototypes are too rough, or that they will not give us the opportunity to get enough feedback from the participants, disappeared in a few minutes, as soon as users got carried away with our prototypes and began to give excellent reviews.



Tip # 4 Allow everyone to participate in feedback gathering sessions.



It would be quite simple to involve experienced coordinators for conducting review gathering sessions. However, allowing everyone to participate, we all became involved in a conversation with end users and the further construction of empathy.

Day 4 - Submit and test. Again

Instead of practicing the ideas we came up with on the third day, day 4, we started by choosing the new cards “how would we act”. We started to solve a new problem, relying on the fact that yesterday during testing worked well, and that - not very.

We spent the rest of the day the same way as the third day - two groups of users came to us for testing, and between this we had time to correct the designs.



Tip # 5 Take the time to find more diverse ideas



On the third day we could go straight to working out ideas and come to one solution. However, having spent a little time to consider new aspects of the problem and search for new ideas, we really expanded our thinking. As a result, the best parts of our ideas from 3 days became part of absolutely new components of the solution for 4 days. Subsequently, we created more ideas that could be tested and selected.

Day 5 - Information

We had enough feedback received in two days from 12 users, so it’s time to put the different parts of the solution together and reduce them to a single coherent proposal.



The presence of design samples collected on the wall in recent days has simplified the discussion of the feedback received, and allowed us to derive a single design for further research.



We also have a final deadline: at 15:00 on Friday we have to make a presentation in front of the executive group. Like the pre-scheduled user feedback sessions, this set us a goal to close the week.

Day 6 - Prototype

On the sixth day, two of our UX designers closed in the room and made more detailed prototypes. One of the prototypes was made using Sketch and Marvel, and the second was made in Axure. Both were uploaded to mobile phones for testing.



At this stage, the task of creating a prototype was fairly straightforward. Since we had extra time in stock to clarify details on the product, we didn’t have too many questions that could slow us down.



Tip # 6 Spend more time if you need it.



As a team, we decided to postpone the creation of exact prototypes until the official 5-day design sprint is over. Although it lengthened the time it took to complete the work, it was definitely worth it - we had more time to have the team submit, filter and test the ideas as described above.



Five days is a long enough time to keep 12 people from their daily work, but if you’ve already gone so far, it would be a shame to jeopardize the final result for a couple extra days.

Day 7— Guerrilla Testing

Unlike previous testings, where participants on a schedule came to us, here we broke up into groups of two people and went on a journey with prototypes loaded on phones. We caught users in their environment - in their workplaces.



Tip # 7 Go to users



There is a subtle, but important enough difference between the planned arrival of users to your office and the unexpected arrival to them in their environment. When you invite users to yourself - you automatically give them a certain attitude. They understand why they are there, and certainly some of them will be reluctant to give negative reviews.



When you come to your users without warning, you encounter a different reaction. Users are more likely to reject your idea and give more critical feedback.

What's next?

The design sprint was tedious, but definitely inspiring. Most of those who took part in it said that it was the most lively creative process in which they had ever participated. Our further task is to preserve the knowledge gained and use it in the further development of a new product. A small team forms several ideas that we develop and explores how we can quickly deliver a product to the market, stay economical and learn as we go.



In addition to the knowledge gained, we are interested in the process that we have undergone to become part of how we develop products in the future, since innovation is something that needs to be practiced, not something that comes by itself.