Introducing "The Design Sprint Unpacked"
Sixty Second Summary
In this series of articles, we’re going to take a look at the individual parts which make up a Design Sprint, how each part helps us work towards a user-tested prototype, and how you can use the activity on its own within your business’s Design-led decision making process.
Full Article - 3 Minute Read
Introduction
The Design Sprint was developed with the big idea to “build and test a prototype in just five days”. And whilst the format and timeframe has evolved over time, with different versions of the Design Sprint such as Design Sprint 2.0, 3.0, and the Remote Design Sprint, the purpose remains the same.
At The Familiar, we believe the Design Sprint and its constituent activities are a great tool for helping a business target and understand a problem to solve and then prototype and test a solution with real customers. So, we’re putting our money where our mouth is, and we’re going to unpack the Design Sprint and share detailed articles about each of the Sprint’s activities with you, and everyone else, for free.
What's Coming?
Starting next Thursday, and pretty much every Thursday after that for about six months, we’re going to release a new blog post as part of the “Design Sprint Unpacked’ series. Each of these posts will take a deep dive into each of the Design Sprint activities.
Coming up, you can look forward to seeing:
- The Design Sprint Icebreaker
- Long-Term Goal
- Sprint Questions
- Mapping
- Ask the Experts
- How Might We Questions
- The Sprint Target
- Lightning Demos
- Divide or Swarm
- The Four-Step Sketch
And much much more. By our count, we will have over 20 posts in this series, so if you want to keep up to date with all of them (and even get a sneak peek), then I recommend you sign up for our newsletter.
Why Are We Doing This?
For New Sprinters
For those of you who are new to the idea of the Design Sprint, or have only taken part in one and have not yet run one, we hope that this series will help you understand the steps of the Design Sprint, how they’re facilitated, and why we do them. In that way, it’s a bit like a free course on how to run your own Design Sprints, either in your own business or with others.
For Experienced Sprinters
For those of you who have a few Design Sprints under your belt, we see this series as a way to drive and promote conversation between Sprint practitioners. We have our ways of doing things, and you have yours, and we’d love to open up that discussion so that we can all learn from each other, and we believe the best way to do that is through being honest and transparent about how we see a Design Sprint and the activities within it.
Part 0 - Before the Sprint
The first part of this series, which will be live on the site on November 5th 2020, will take a look at the work that needs to be done before you run a Design Sprint, so that you’re best prepared to help your Sprint Team deliver.