Example Schedule
Day 1: Understanding Day
Team intros (15 min)
Introduce the design sprint team, announce the Product Owner and acknowledge the others involved with the project but not participating in the design sprint.
Intro to the Design Sprint Process (5 min)
High Level overview and goals of each day. Set expectations about how we might feel at certain steps in the process.
There are many uses for a design sprint. At the core a design sprint is about quickly and collaboratively using design thinking to solve problems.
Intro to Day 1 (5 min)
Day 1 is about developing a common understanding of the context within which we are working and all the elements in that context (the problem, the business, the customer, the value prop/hypothesis, success, etc). Our goal is to expose risky knowledge gaps and identify risky assumptions so that we can make plans for reducing those risks and move forward confident we are heading in the right direction. Also, by gather info we will empower our decision making abilities and eliminate the need for guesswork later on.
Exercises
The Problem Statement (10 min)
Introduce Assumptions Board (10 min)
Introduce Back-burner Board (10 min)
Pitch Practice (15 min)
Existing research (10 min)
(Quickly identify existing research the client has done and determine when that research can be brought back during the definitions section of the day.) Definitions: The Business & The Customer (1 hr)
Definitions: The problem, The Value Prop, Success (1 hr)
Business Model Canvas (30 min)
Lightning Demos (45 min)
Expert Perspectives (30 min)
Identify existing research and other perspectives that would provide valuable insights and info.
Daily Recap (30 min)
Consolidate notes and write daily summary.
Day 2: Diverge Day
Intro to Day 2 (5 min)
Guidelines
Everyone participates, you don’t need to be an artist (I’m not!) to sketch and visualize your ideas. No ideas are too wild!
Pitch Practice (10 min)
Recap Day 1, identify biggest risks, determine goals for the prototype (45 min)
Identify and diagram the critical path for the prototype (45 min)
Write down the user story that is most important for this sprint or that best addresses our most blocking/risky assumptions/knowledge gaps. (Write the story as if you were the ‘user’). Diagram the critical path, and break it into pieces if necessary for the purpose of the iteration exercises.
Diverge Cycle (2 hours)
- Mind Mapping (15 min)
- Crazy Eights (5 min)
- Storyboard (20 min)
- Silent critique (10 min)
- Group critique (3-5 min each person)
Repeat Diverge Cycle (2 hrs)
Daily Recap (30 min)
Day 3: Converge Day
Intro to Day 3: Guidelines (5 min)
Pitch Practice (10 min)
Revisit our risks (15 min)
Recap Day 2, identify themes from our storyboards (30 min)
Identify conflicts in our storyboards (30 min)
Conflict: two or more ways of solving the same problem.
List the underlying assumptions (30 min)
Create a table with two columns. One listing the assumptions embedded in our prototype and the other listing the ways in which we can test those assumptions.
Storyboard your prototype (2 hrs)
Determine prototype medium (10 min)
Plan interview questions (40 min)
Make plans for reducing risks not addressed by the prototype (40 min)
Consider plans for the week following the design sprint (30 min)
Daily Recap (30 min)
Consolidate notes and write daily summary.
Day 5: Validate Day
4 User Interviews (1hr each)
- Intro user to usability test (5 - 10 min)
- Ask user research questions
- Our Prototype (5 - 10 min)
- Recap & Prep for next interview (10 min)
Consolidate Notes (30 min)
At the end of all of the Interviews, gather everyone that watched and compare notes. Figure out where your assumptions were validated and where assumptions might have been invalidated. Decide whether you've validated enough to start building the application or start another sprint.