The 5 most important conditions for a successful Design Sprint (if you ask MakerLab)

Often innovation projects take months, sometimes even years, before you have a working product. Where do you start? How do you get to the heart of a mountain of data? How do you get all departments and noses in the same direction? MakerLab offers a powerful solution: the Design Sprint. More focus, more results. And in just five days...

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Of course, we don't claim that you can solve global issues in five days. Imagine that. However, no prolonged innovation process can rival the power and speed of a well-executed Design Sprint. It creates momentum and fosters a shared mindset and ownership of the problem at hand. Within a working week, we develop a clear understanding of customer preferences and strive towards creating an initial, robust prototype of a product or service.

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Such a sprint doesn't happen without proper preparation and facilitation. MakerLab uses these five focal points to make an ordinary sprint, let's be honest about it, exceptional.

1. Content knowledge is key

Some days of the sprint are filled with discussion. Questions like: is this really a problem for our target audience? Does our solution fit the context well? How do we combine all the ideas into something strong? Without knowledge and expertise in the sprint team, discussions quickly become hypothetical: "It could be that...

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MakerLab always provides a team of experts from different disciplines so we can ask sharp questions about any aspect of a problem.

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2. No Design sprint without (UX) designers.

The core team is in place, and the room is brimming with subject knowledge. If we only invite content experts, you quickly hit roadblocks in a Design Sprint. A big part of the process relies on building and testing a prototype. Bringing in a strong visual and UX designer makes life much easier in the second half of the week. Interview questions become sharper, and a prototype gets developed faster and better. 

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3. Facilitation is a profession

As a facilitator, it's best to keep your evenings free to relax on the sofa. Steering, keeping track of time, moderating, and taking notes - facilitating is a demanding role. You really run around a lot during such a week. Moreover, you always want to keep your wits about you. What if you miss a keen insight? Exactly. Enter the co-pilot. When the facilitator is handling the organizational aspects, a colleague can take care of the content. This way, we don't compromise on quality, and our team remains as fresh as on day one.

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4. Offline! Get rid of those devices

Distraction always lurks around the corner. A slight vibration in your pocket or an illuminating screen, and your hand instinctively flies to your phone. That's why the best sprints are entirely offline. No emails in between, no tab demanding your attention, or a message you must respond to. Everyone stays focused on each other and the process.

5. A sexy final presentation

The end result of a sprint is never set in stone. Sometimes it results in a beautiful prototype, while other times it's the validation that something doesn't work. However, at the end of the week, there is always a vast amount of knowledge, ideas, and valuable insights about the target audience in the war room. All ofEach of these is a stepping stone for new development processes. MakerLab documents all the acquired knowledge in a visually appealing presentation after the sprint. Such a captivating visual makes pitching to other departments or the outside world much easier.

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Need to boost your innovation? Then a Design Sprint might be the right solution. Read more about deploying a sprint together with MakerLab here.