To introduce our team and our working methods we often run a stripped down version of a design sprint. In just one day we’ll be able to combine forces with a client or prospect to get one of their problems to the surface and collaboratively come up up with a suitable solution. After that session we isolate ourselves in our studio, work another day on it and eventually provide the team with an actual design. Why we do this? It’s a speedy version of how we work and that’s the experience we’d like to share with our client or prospect at the start of a project.

Please note, we don’t try to replace the design sprint with our alternate version. We just use the best elements of it to fit another purpose.

During this session, we try to get problems from sketches to ideas. Eventually, when the session is over, we shape those ideas into an interface.

Our Approach To The One Day Design Sprint

In short, our session is based on the first two days of Jake Knapp’s Design Sprint.

We invite (potential) clients over to our studio in Rotterdam or two or three of our team pay them a visit instead. For the session, we ask the client to bring experts, stakeholders and (key) players of their production team to attend. To fit in our desired timeframe of 4 hours, we tweaked Knapp’s activities a little and got entirely rid of some. In one day we gradually roll from research into ideation.

After 4 hours of hard work from all attendees we wave goodbye, retreat and take 8 hours to put the chosen solution into a solid design. A very small Minimum Viable Product (MVP) if you will.

A little preparation

We’re on a tight schedule here, so we prepare ourselves by researching the product and team first. We brief the (potential) client about the session, so they will know what to expect and ask him to share his top 3 problems a few days before the sprint. And then we’re all set!

Introduction

Total time: 30 minutes

At the start we take some time to know each other better. Of course it’s also the moment for the facilitator (someone who helps the team to keep track of time and leads the team through the day’s agenda) to present today’s activities and provide the necessary information.

Today’s checklist

The facilitator writes down the tasks for today on a whiteboard. He briefly explains what the purpose of the sprint is, its contents and why we’re taking these steps.

Introductions

All attendees briefly introduce themselves. They should explain what their role is within the team, what their background isand maybe they’d like to tell what they’re working on at the moment. Naturally we also present ourselves and show the team some recent or relevant work.

Choosing the right problem

Total time: 30 minutes

The first actual activity on the agenda. It helps the team — just like the follow-up activity does — to understand the product and its priority problem statements.

Choosing a problem

The product owner or CEO is given some time to introduce the product and shines his light upon the top 3 problems he brought with him. All the attendees vote on the problem they find the most interesting or valuable. At the end of this exercise the product owner or CEO chooses his favourite (acknowledging or ignoring the team’s preference), which is gonna be our focus point for the day.

The final goal

The team defines the end goal together. What do we want to achieve? What should be the result when we fix the problem we’re facing?

Assumptions & questions

Taking the final goal in account, the team comes up with a list of questions and assumptions. It will become a selection of questions the team needs answers to. The design we’ll be delivering at the end, will probably help the team to provide some answers when put out there in the field (which means getting feedback from actual users).

The Map

Total time: 45 minutes

To get a feeling of the product’s context and its user’s behaviour, we draw an equivalent of a customer journey map on a whiteboard. By putting our actors (or users) on the left side of the map and drawing our defined goal at the right side, we have set the stage. The only thing left for the team to do is to sketch out the flowchart, by mapping out the interactions the users have with the product.

At the end, we’d have a beautiful map which (in combination with the final goal, assumptions & questions) should make the context for the entire team visible, clear and understandable.

How Might We’s

Total time: 45 minutes

During this activity we’ll be defining the actual design challenge(s) at hand. We’ll do this by drafting questions starting with ‘How Might We…’ Doing that magically turns challenges into opportunities! A good How Might Wequestion isn’t too broad, yet opens up enough possibilities for a variety of solutions. When everyone has drafted some questions, we categorise and vote on the most important and favourable. That one will be our focus point for the sketching phase later on.

A good How Might We question isn’t too broad, yet opens up enough possibilities for a variety of solutions

Find inspiration

Total time: 15 minutes

Sometimes you won’t have to reinvent the wheel. There are many beautiful products out there and even more remarkable interactions. This is the moment to get your laptop or phone out and start digging. Find solutions that you think might be useful in our case and save them for yourself to use as inspiration for your sketches.

Sketching

Total time: 30 minutes

Ideation. Finally. Individually we’re gonna sketch solutions. We do this individually so everyone can put his thoughts on paper. At the end of the session the best idea(s) get picked!

Quick drafts

The first 10 minutes we’ll use to get our first thoughts out of our heads. It’s like drafting your own personal notes. Draw diagrams, doodles, stick figures, write stuff down. Make use of the input on the walls or your sources of inspiration. There’s no right or wrong here. No-one (ever) is going to look at these sketches, so make it comprehensible for only yourself. Take a minute or two to encircle your greatest ideas.

After this step the facilitator will ask you to stow away your distracting laptop and mobiles, so make sure you’ve made solid notes or doodles of your inspiration.

Crazy 8s

We make use of this method to help us think more outside the box and consider alternatives. The ‘crazy’ is not about wacky ideas. Crazy stands for the incredible speed we’ll be sketching in. Basically we divide our piece of paper in 8 boxes and draw out our best idea in 8 different variations. You guessed it. You only get one minute for each. Keep your calm, you’ll be just sketching for yourself once more, so this won’t be listed on the wall.

The final solution

Ok, now it’s time to waken your inner Rembrandt (or Picasso if that’s more resembling your style). This is the real deal. This is the sketch the rest of the team is gonna see and evaluate.

Our guru Jake Knapp set up some very good ground rules for this one:

• We use a storyboard approach. (We’re building an interactive product, so 9 out of 10 times we’re dealing with multiple states and flows.) Use your paper as your canvas, add 3 post-its to it and draw a frame of your storyboard on each.

• We’re not gonna present the sketch ourselves, so the sketch needs to be self-explanatory.

• The sketches should be anonymous. So don’t put your name on it and everyone should be using the same markers.

• Don’t worry, you don’t actually have to create the next Mona Lisa. The sketch doesn’t have to be fancy. Only detailed, complete and well thought through.

• Copy is important. Use it to support your sketching and good God, don’t use Lorem Ipsum in your solution.

• Provide a fancy title. It makes it easier to talk about it afterwards and you can make it stand out.

Use the best ideas of your quick drafts and crazy 8s to come up with your final solution sketch

Discuss sketches

Total time: 45 minutes

As the ground rules already implied, we’re not gonna present our own sketches. The team posts the sketches to the wall and the facilitator gathers the team. Case-by-case the facilitator describes the sketch and the team complements.

When every sketch has been discussed, everyone gets a bunch of stickers which can be used to vote on good ideas. Eventually the decision maker, which is given this role at the start of the session (usually the CEO), chooses his favourite with one super vote. That one is the one the design team picks up to shape into an actual design.

Shaping the design

Total time: 8 hours

Because we’ve narrowed down the scope in the workshop, we know what challenge we’re going to solve. Heck, we even know how to. Of course, we have to take in account we only have 8 hours, but we know often we can make something sexy and solid in this timeframe.

Think you’re up for it?

Got a design challenge yourself? Not sure where to start in optimising or setting up your digital product? Feel free to reach out to us, we’ll be happy helping you out.