What is the design sprint process?

Overview

A design sprint is a design process that takes about five days to complete. It's an intensive collaboration done by members of a design team. This collaboration is aimed at delivering a design solution within a short time frame.

Stages of design sprint

1. Explore: This is the first stage of the design sprint process. The creativity of the design team members is explored at this stage. This stage leads to developing a list of ideas and information that guides the design sprint.
2. Sketch: This is the solution rendering stage. Every design team member evaluates the case study and brainstorms to make the available individual solution to the problem. The possible solution to the identified problem is sketched at this stage. The solution is focused on the case study.
3. Decision stage: The decision stage involves choosing the best suitable sketched solution for the case study. Time is needed in this stage, as there could be a review of similar ideas to take the best solution.
4. Prototype: The chosen solution here is a prototype to suit the case study. The decision made previously is now put in the prototype. This stage builds a solution in the form of a prototype for the identified case study.
5. Validate: This stage validates the usefulness of the developed prototype in solving the identified problem. The validation is done by the design team members and a group of selected users. At the end of this stage, feedback is collected, and the decision is made either to roll out the prototype as the solution or make amends before rolling it out.

Basics of a design sprint

1. User research: The foundation of a design sprint is to uncover the user problem through user research.
2. Call in experts: It's essential to call in experts during the exploration stage of the case study or user problem.
3. Find the right space: The best space or place for the sprint should be decided. Will it be offline or online? The arrangement is made and communicated to team members through a document.
4. Gather supplies: The needed tools and documents are gathered for the sprint.
5. Establish sprint rules: Rules to guide the sprint are established about the nature of the problem and documented.
6. Plan introductions: The scheduling for the sprint, the expertise involved, and every member of the sprint is documented.
7. Post-print planning: The document to guide the sprint process is released and sent to every sprint member.