Design Sprint: Accelerating the design and testing process in 5 days

Meeting for the month vs. Experiment in 5 days: Why is the big project "not survived", despite the good ideas?

Have you ever felt like this? ... Your team has "ideas to change the world" that everyone believes will definitely "bang", but when actually starting to do It turns out that ... Circling in the loop of the meeting that never ends Conflicting opinions Each side has their own views. Finally, the project went slowly. Takes time for months Or sometimes even a year

Or more painful Meaning that after dedication, both time and enormous funds to create product When the real launch is "Pae", no one wants to use! Customers do not understand how it will help solve the problem for him. Like we created the "we wanted" but not what "The market needs" dreams to create new innovations Became a nightmare that both the team was tired and exhausted ... If you are nodding Show that you have come to the right place.

Prompt for illustrations: A picture of a meeting team in the room that is full of stress. Everyone looks tired and confused. There is a post -vignette post on the board. Indicates a protracted meeting and cannot be concluded

"The first buttons are wrong." The reason why good projects Must be miserable

These problems are not good at the team or bad ideas. But most often caused by the "starting" that is wrong, it is like the first buttons The rest is completely distorted. The main reason that I encountered is very often:

1. Lack of shared vision: Marketing team wants the feature A, a programmer, says that the feature B is easier than the management wants to launch as soon as possible. Everyone ran in different directions because no one really saw the last picture.

2. Siloed Work: Design designer, throw it to programmer The programmer finished, then forwarded to marketing. Each party works separately without deep discussions. Causing the bottleneck problem and have to come back and fix it over and over again

3. Fear of the Fear of Making Wrong Decisions: Because each decision has a high impact. Both in terms of time and budget Causing no one to dare to decide Until having to find information and meetings continuously to make "the most sure", which has never been 100% sure

4. Detained from real users: We tend to sit in the meeting room of what users want. Without ever having to really talk to them to them at all Which is too late to fix Understanding the importance of Discovery Phase is a matter that many teams overlook.

Prompt for illustrations: graphics, 3-4 silo sticks, separate bars With a representative icon of each department (Marketing, Developer, Design) in each Sylo And have an arrow in different directions Conveys a separate work and does not have a common goal.

The impact is more terrifying than just "waste time" when your project is on the wrong way.

Allowing these problems to continue to eat your project The result is worse than just slow work or an additional budget. But it is the destruction of the "opportunity" and "future" of your business indirectly.

- Burning funds with things that are not: every hour every day that is lost with the creation of a feature that no one wants is to "burn money" unfortunately. The funds that should be extended to other parts Instead disappeared with uncertainty

- Lose business opportunities for competitors: While you are not finished yet Competitors may release similar features to cut the face. The market has never been waiting for anyone. Walking slowly as you are opening the way for competitors to overtake easily.

- The team runs out of fire and resign: Nothing destroys the workers as their work is not released. Or released, no one saw the value Repeated work editing And the project that does not progress is the main reason that makes good people Choose to walk away

- Build technical debt (Technical Debt) enormous: The creation of complex products without testing clear ideas. May lead to a system that must be dismantled in the future Which has many times higher than the first, like the UX health examination process that neglected from the beginning Had to have a big surgery at the end

Prompt for illustrations: Sandy watch that is about to run out. With stock graphs or business graphs that are plummeted behind And there was a silver coin that was falling from the watch Conveys both time and business opportunities.

Google shortcuts: "Design Sprint" cheating formula that changes ideas to test in 5 days.

And will there be any way to destroy this vicious circuit? How good would it be if we were able to "cross the time" from the day that only the idea? To the day we saw "Feedback from real users" by only 5 days? The answer is "Mi" and it is called Design Sprint.

What is Design Sprint? Speaking to the most easy to understand, it is a 5 -day process. Which allows your team to solve complex problems, solution designs, create realistic prototypes, and immediately test with the target user This process was invented and developed by the team at Google Ventures to help the startup company invested to invest and reduce the risk before throwing real production.

Design Sprint's heart is not faster, but "focus" and "cut disturbing" so that the team can answer the most important questions within a limited time frame. It is the introduction of the Strategy, Innovation, Behavior Science, Design Thinking, and many more. The leading organizations like AJ & Smart have extended and published until known throughout the world.

Prompt for illustrations: Infovic that looks clean, showing the timeline for 5 days from Monday to Friday. With a small icon Convey the activities each day (map, sketch, vote, create prototype, test) and have a Google Ventures logo on top

Examples from the real thing: Slack use Design Sprint to find "AHA! Moment" until how to bomb?

Theory may sound good. But what is the real thing? One of the most classic examples is Slack, a communication platform for the organization that we know well. In the beginning, the Slack team wanted to find a way to make new users "understand" and "see value" of the product as soon as possible. Also known as effective Onboarding process

- Problems before doing SPRINT: The Slack team has many assumptions how to improve the introduction of new users. But to create and test each idea takes a long time They are not sure where they should focus on first. During the creation of a video tutorial, interactive tutorial, or overall look

- The mission in 5 days: The team decided to use the Design Sprint to find the answer. They mobilize the team from many parties (engineers, designers, marketers) into the Sprint together. On the first day, they made the new users' Map Journey and fully mobilize ideas. Until concluded that it must create a Prototype that focuses on "learning through action" instead of traditional teaching

- The results of the game: On the last day they brought Prototype to test with new users and discovered "AHA! Moment". "Send and receive messages with the team" has achieved this discoveries, causing Slack to focus on the entire Onboarding process to push new users to that point as soon as possible. Which became one of the key to Slack to grow up and leap into a unicorn later This is the power of testing the right idea. Without having to waste time developing for months

Prompt for illustrations: Before & After style. The left is a picture of the user's confusion while looking at the complex application screen. The right side is the same user image, smiling happily and has a light bulb "AHA!" While using the updated version of the application

Do you want to try doing some sprint? Summary of the 5 -day formula (Can be used immediately)

Can you see how powerful the Design Sprint? Now it's the most important part. Meaning if wanting to try What do you have to do each day? I concluded to be easy to understand.

- Monday: Map (understand and determine direction).
The first day is "Setting the problem" clearly. The team will start with an expert interview (Expert Interviews) to gather information from every angle. Then will help create a user journey map to see the overall problem. And finally, choosing One of the most painful "points to focus on this week

- Tuesday: Sketch (mobilize ideas and drafts)
when the goal is clear. Today, everyone in the team will get the "single screening" to mobilize the idea to solve the problem. Don't be afraid that you will not draw beautiful pictures. Because the heart is to communicate the idea as a picture Which may use techniques like Crazy 8s (draft 8 ideas in 8 minutes) to stimulate creativity Everyone will have their own solution at the end of the day.

- Wednesday: Decide (decided to choose the best idea).
Today is the day that we will change from "Many ideas" to the remaining "clear plan" everyone will present the sketches yesterday. Then the team will use the Silent Voting to choose the strongest idea without prejudice. When the winner The team will bring that idea to create a Storyboard step by step to be a blueprint for tomorrow.

- Thursday: Prototype (create realistic prototype)
, it's time to "cast"! The team will divide the duties to create a "prototype" or Prototype that looks the most like the real thing. But the inside may be a group No need to write a real code (Fake It Till You Make It!) The popular tools such as Figma, Keynote, or even webflow can create realistic prototype .

test with real users) We will bring the Prototype made yesterday to test with the real target users (about 5 people) through one -on -one interview. We will see the feedback that is not garnish. Know what they like I don't understand where And our ideas are "work" or "not work" at the end of the day. We will have a clear in -depth information to decide to move forward confidently.

Prompt for illustrations: 5-channel infographic, divided into Monday-Friday. Each channel has a day name, main topic and short explanation. With beautiful icons To summarize the activities each day, easy to understand in one picture

Questions that people tend to wonder about Design Sprint (clear all questions)

I believe that many people should have questions. Let's see if there are questions that you are wondering or not.

Q: Is it necessary to take 5 full days? Can you arrange in the evening after work?
Answer: Sprint's heart is "Focus". Blossing for 5 days will help the team to cut from disturbances and fully focus on the problem. Middle half of the way is often given as bad results. However, the formula has been adjusted to 4 days (Design Sprint 2.0), which will compress some steps to be shorter. But still have to spend the full day anyway

Question: How many people must the team have? And who has to be?
Answer: The most suitable team is about 7 or less. There should be a representative from a variety of parties such as engineers, designers, marketing, sales and most importantly. "The Decider" (The Decider) is also on the team. To make the decision not stuck

Question: Design Sprint is suitable for all projects, right?
Answer: No, Design Sprint is the most suitable for "Big problem with high risks" or "new ideas that are uncertain." If it's just a small improvement or a problem that has a solution. Sprint may be too wasteful.

Q: After 5 days, what do you do next?
Answer: This is the best question! After the Sprint, you will have in -depth information from real users. Which will lead to 3 options: 1) success! Test ideas Ready to pass on to the real development team. 2) Conditions Some ideas are good. But have to bring the feedback back to improve and may do another Sprint to test the new idea. 3) Elegant failure This idea does not answer the user. Which is considered a success Because you know in 5 days without having to waste time building for years! Regardless of the result You can always learn and have a clear direction.

Prompt for illustrations: The image of the cartoon character is standing on the 3 -way junction. Each route has a sign saying "Build IT!", "ITERATE", and "New Idea" to convey the choice after the Design Sprint.

It's time to change "Insomnial meeting" to be a "progress to measure"

We have already seen that Design Sprint is not just a superficial work process, but it is "changing culture" in solving problems. From a long guess to a fast learning From a part -way work to truly cooperation And from the creation of "We think good" to the creation of "love users"

Investment 5 days in Design Sprint may seem like a high cost at first. But when compared to the loss of funds, the time of the team that may occur from the wrong way for many months or for years It is an investment that "Khot Khum". It is the purchase of "clarity" and "reduce risks", one of the best ways in the modern business world.

Don't let the ideas good. You must die in the meeting room. Or become a product that no one wants anymore Try using the Design Sprint process to apply to your organization's most important challenges. And you will discover that creating a remarkable innovation I didn't spend as long as I thought.

If you feel that starting the Design Sprint by yourself is scary and not sure how to start. Having experts to help bring the Facilitate is a great choice. The Vision X Brain team has expertise in designing users and ready to be a "mentor" to help your first SPRINT smooth and maximum efficiency. Consult us for free today. To change your ideas into a true truth!

Prompt for illustrations: The same team image as the first picture But this time, everyone is smiling and raised their thumb happily around. Whiteboard is full of diagram and story board. With a graph of the arrow rising behind Conveys success and progress

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