Sprint

Initiating a sprint begins with a clear statement of the overarching goal and its significance. Write the project's purpose and the six-month target on a whiteboard. Identify the key questions that need answers. Consider the potential reasons for the project's failure, and then shift focus to the positive outcomes that could arise from its success. Establishing a clear vision and understanding of possible challenges from the outset ensures everyone is working towards the same objectives.

To understand the customer journey, break down the challenge into steps that illustrate how customers transition from their current situation to the desired future state post-interaction with your product. Start with customers on one side of the whiteboard and the achieved goal on the other. In the middle, create a flowchart of touchpoints where customers engage with your product. This should be straightforward, providing a visual guide that highlights critical moments in the customer experience.

Innovation often stems from taking existing ideas and repurposing them for new contexts. To harness this creative potential, a structured approach can be beneficial. Begin with a session dedicated to lightning demos, where participants share brief presentations on their favorite solutions from various domains. This exercise aims to ignite inspiration by showcasing appealing aspects of different products or concepts. Compile a list of these products for examination, assign individuals to elucidate their appeal, and document the core idea of each in a spreadsheet for future reference.

Following the inspiration phase, the next step involves strategic planning on how to tackle the problem at hand. The team must decide whether to segment the problem into manageable parts or to collectively focus on a singular aspect. If opting for division, it's crucial to clearly assign specific segments to team members.

On the Wednesday of a design sprint, the focus shifts to evaluating all the potential solutions to identify the one with the highest likelihood of achieving the long-term goal. The day is dedicated to creating a storyboard, a detailed plan that outlines the steps for building the prototype. The process begins with the Art Museum Technique, where all proposed solutions are displayed on a whiteboard in a single row for a side-by-side visual comparison. Following this, the Heat Mapping technique is employed, allowing team members to silently review the sketches and place dot stickers next to the parts they find most appealing, thereby highlighting the most attractive elements across all solutions.

Next, the Speed Critique session enables the group to discuss each solution's highlights and lowlights briefly, pointing out exceptionally strong ideas or significant objections. This is followed by the Straw Poll, where each person votes for their favorite solution by placing their vote on the corresponding sketch, helping to gauge overall preference. The Supervote comes into play next, with the decider choosing the top three solutions that are worth prototyping and testing, acting as a tiebreaker if necessary.

On Thursday, the journey of bringing your storyboard to life begins, as you embark on creating a prototype that, while not fully functional, will be realistic enough to gather authentic feedback from real customers. The essence of this day is to remember that with a dash of creativity, prototyping anything is possible. Maintain a positive outlook and embrace the notion that there's always a solution.

The prototype you're about to create is essentially a temporary tool designed solely for the purpose of learning from customer feedback. It should be detailed enough to uncover what customers truly desire, yet not so elaborate that it goes beyond the scope of initial feedback gathering. The aim is to present something so convincingly real to the customers that it elicits genuine reactions, despite its lack of full functionality. Your storyboard has already laid the groundwork for this prototype, serving as a detailed blueprint for what you're about to build.

On the upcoming Friday, a pivotal moment awaits as you put your prototype to the test with potential customers. This event marks the peak of a sprint week that began with a significant challenge. You've assembled a top-notch team, brainstormed a range of solutions, selected the most promising idea, and transformed it into a tangible prototype. Now, it's time to see if your solution truly connects with the end-users, a step Jake Knapp refers to as when "the rubber meets the road." Observing customers as they interact with and critique your prototype will provide critical insights, helping you refine the product to better suit their needs.

For the customer interviews, aim for a natural, conversational tone. Arrange a room equipped with web cameras, allowing the entire team to watch the interactions remotely and without causing any distractions. It's essential to get consent from the customers to record the sessions in advance.

During the interviews, focus on asking open-ended questions that delve into the customers' thoughts about the prototype's features and functions. Steer clear of yes/no questions. Instead, use prompts like "Would you...?", "Do you...?", or "In your opinion, is it...?" to gather more nuanced feedback. Center your questions around the five Ws—Who, What, Where, When, Why—and one H: How. As the interviewer, keep the atmosphere friendly and welcoming, with the main goal of understanding the customers' viewpoints. If they display uncertainty or enthusiasm about certain aspects of the prototype, ask more questions to dig deeper.