Why Startups Can’t Afford to Ignore Design Sprints
10x your innovation with this proven 5-day process 🚀
In the extremely competitive and fast-paced world of startups, innovation is what separates winners from losers.
It has always been the case but recently, rising user expectations and shrinking resources (hello, hidden depression of 2023), brought all hidden shortcomings and inefficiencies to the surface. It seems like we collectively need a better and more efficient way to innovate.
What if there was a process that could give startups a significant edge without draining their resources? Enter the world of Design Sprints 🚀
But…what is a Design Sprint? 🤔
Design Sprints were invented at Google and popularised with Jake Knap’s book ‘Sprint’. After years of working with clients and teams, the process evolved to other iterations, like 2.0 by AJ&Smart and 4.0 by us, Outdraw Design.
But don’t let all that intimidate you — Design Sprints are far from complicated.
Design Sprint is a process that gets your Team from an idea to a validated prototype in just 5 days.
Think of them as a focused, time-bound journey where your team collaboratively tackles challenges, tests concepts, and ensures your product aligns perfectly with user needs.
- Day 1: Explore — Workshops with the Team to define product vision and goals, and develop the first version of the design solution.
- Day 2: Synthesise — The Team works together on polishing the chosen concept and developing the prioritized list of features.
- Day 3: Prototype — We develop a clickable prototype of the solution.
- Day 4: Test — We perform 5 usability testing sessions with users to gather feedback about the prototype.
- Day 5: Revise and Summarise — We make improvements to the prototype and prepare a final report with all the insights.
Problem 1: Raising User Expectations (solved ✅)
In today’s tech-savvy world, delivering a product that functions well technically is no longer enough. User expectations have skyrocketed 😳, and products must go beyond technical excellence and combine it with exceptional user experience (UX).
These new standards are non-negotiable, and first impressions count more than ever.
In this new world of elevated expectations, Design Sprints offer a perfect solution.
These innovation workshops condense the process of refining UX into just a few days.
- Rapid refinement — Design Sprints enable teams to ideate, prototype, and test solutions quickly.
- User-centric iteration — Through user testing and feedback, Design Sprints ensure that a solution aligns with user expectations.
- Cross-functional collaboration — Design Sprints engage a cross-functional team to produce a solution that is technically sound, meets user needs, and fits into product strategy.
Problem 2: Limited resources (solved ✅)
When it comes to making every dollar and every team member count, Design Sprints provide a concise yet powerful solution.
Optimized collaboration
By condensing the product development process into a focused timeframe, startups each team member’s expertise in the optimal way, and have full clarity about the resources and the outcomes.
Mitigating the risks
Startups can’t afford to gamble their limited resources on uncertain endeavors. By swiftly bringing concepts to life and testing them with real users,
Design Sprints help startups channel their limited resources into ideas that are not only promising but realistically have the biggest chances for success.
Problem 3: Tight deadlines (solved ✅)
The beauty of Design Sprints is that they sync seamlessly with the startup culture. They operate at speed, offering a structured yet agile approach.
It means you can pivot, iterate, and refine your product in a matter of days, ensuring that you stay ahead of the competition.
With Design Sprints, you’re not just resolving issues. You’re doing it at a speed like never before.
These intensive workshops condense weeks or even months of work into just a few days.
Design Sprints allow you to address critical challenges, ideate solutions, and validate them with real users efficiently. This time efficiency is not just an added benefit.
It’s a life-changing transformation and mindset shift for many teams when racing against the clock.
Ready to Dive In? 🙌
So, you’re intrigued by the potential of Design Sprints and eager to harness their power for your startup? Here’s your roadmap to get started:
Step 1: Define Your Challenge
Start by clearly defining the challenge you want to tackle. Whether it’s refining a product feature, brainstorming new ideas, or solving a specific problem, articulating the challenge is the first step.
Is my project a fit for a Design Sprint? 🤔
Consider Design Sprints for:
- New product exploration
- Feature exploration and enhancement
- UX improvement of a key flow
- Scoping an MVP
- Market entry strategy
- Process optimisation
- Strategic initiatives
Step 2: Assemble your Team
Identify the key people for your Design Sprint. Cross-functional teams work best, combining diverse perspectives and skills.
Make sure to combine the key stakeholders (Founders, CEO, etc.) with people who are close to the product, like Designers, Engineers, and PMs.
Step 3: Choose your facilitator
Design Sprints thrive under the guidance of a skilled facilitator. While it’s possible to run Design Sprints with an internal team, it’s often more effective to use an external agency that specializes in sprints. By doing so, startups can benefit from the expertise, objectivity, and efficiency that an external agency can provide (we’re happy to help).
Step 4: Plan and perform your Sprint
Enjoy the 5-day process 🚀 Remember to stick to the structure and control the time and focus. Create and maintain the momentum.
Finishing on a high note will create excitement for the next phase of the project.
Step 6: Next steps and Iterate
After your Design Sprint, take the time to reflect on the experience and plan the next steps using the prioritized list of features ✅ you’ve created.
If you need to perform another Design Sprint for another feature or another problem, go for it!
Summary
I hope I convinced you that Design Sprints will forever change how you innovate and how you use the resources in your Startup.
It’s a great tool for startups at any stage of growth to accelerate their innovation and get better effects for their efforts.
If you have any questions or comments about the content, please leave a comment or reach out to me at 💌 alicja@outdraw.design
