“What’s this all about? Is there a new update? A new ‘Sprint’ book? A Design Sprint 3.0 or 4.0? Who are you and who is 'The Sprint Agency', and are you connected to GV?” (I hear you thinking). To answer all of this right away with one answer: No.
We are just a happy bunch of Design Sprint lovers and came up with 4 new Design Sprint formats, based on our experience, which we would love to share with you.
We are providing this for you to use and experiment with. Just getting our message out there and making a bigger impact together in the world, because;
“We all change the world, one Design Sprint at a time”. Right?
But how did this come about?
After running Design Sprints the last 2.5 years, as created by Google Ventures and described in their book ‘Sprint’ by @JakeKnapp and @JohnZeratsky, we have seen that the Design Sprint format is not always a ‘one size fits all’ kind of thing. Not to say that the process isn’t good, it’s awesome and we totally love it! We’ve just used it as a basis to create various spin-off Design Sprint programs.
In the coming weeks we will publish the time-boxed programs for each new format for you to use and implement with your customers and clients.
Ever since we started using Design Sprints as a tool to help companies innovate and create new products or services, we experienced that the process is not always a seamless fit with regard to the challenges that companies have. We saw that depending on various factors there are different needs with which an adjusted Design Sprint format has better or more impactful results.
As a result we came up with 4 new Design Sprint formats
The 4 new Design Sprint programs are:
1. The Validation Design Sprint
2. The Strategy Design Sprint
3. The Branding & Campaign Design Sprint
4. The Circular Economy Design Sprint
Decision Tree:
Depending on the company need, we have a made a simple decision tree to easily see which format would be a good fit;
The Validation Design Sprint
Sometimes when customers come to us with the request to ‘run a Design Sprint’, they in some cases are not clear on what the problem is for who. This would mean in a normal sprint, that we are depending on so many assumptions, that the prototype could very well look super awesome, but is not solving a clear ‘validated’ problem. Therefore we have created the ‘Validation Design Sprint'. A lot of elements in this sprint come from the ‘Lean Startup Methodology’. The outcome is a (as we call it) ‘prototype-light’ version on a conceptual level that can be tested on the last day with actual customers.
The Strategy Design Sprint
(International) corporates have come to us with the request to help them with creating their strategy (internally / externally) to communicate their company vision, mission and strategy for the future. Just sending a memo doesn’t cut it anymore these days. Further, they wanted to communicate this in a way that the reader could interact with this future vision. In order to adopt it as if it were ‘their own’ and are eager to embrace. Instead of just being a one-way stream of information. We have created this program that uses the basics of the Design Sprint format, but it also includes Strategyzer tools, strategic business design, road mapping and an action-plan to create and implement the new strategy. The outcome is a communicable and interactive visualization of the mission and vision for the future.
The Branding & Campaign Sprint
This sprint focuses fully on companies who have already created a prototype or MVP, tested it, iterated it, tested it again and are now in the phase where they have a concept, product or service that is ready to ‘go-to-market’ for soft launch. But how? Right? In this sprint we focus on storytelling, the narrative, the image that we want to portray, copy, visual content, (social media) channels, a bit of growth hacking and targeting. The outcome is a fully packed ‘go-to-market’ action plan, which can be tested through online channels on the last day and following week, to measure traction.
The Circular Economy Design Sprint
This is one my personal favorites. As the word already says; ‘circular’; the mapping exercise for example can’t be done in a linear way. It’s a circular map, involving multiple companies, chain partners or players. In the sprint we will rediscover the entire chain and all players involved in the ‘cycle’. It is always an eye-opener when the involved parties discover how their current business process is actually operating (and they’re quite shocked to realize this). It is not only brining companies together to work more closely with each other in a more efficient and sustainable way, it also creates new business models, cuts costs and uses resources that are more sustainable in their direct environment. It truly opens a mindset that enables companies to understand each other viewpoints –and business better. The outcome is a clickable presentation / prototype in Invision / Marvel of the re-invented or optimized circular process, which they can implement and use, to start making adjustments in their current business operations.
In the coming weeks we will publish the time-boxed sprint programs for each new Design Sprint format, for you to use and implement with your customers or clients.
We will publish the approach for the 'Validation Design Sprint' in the coming days.
If you are interested to learn more, follow us here or on Instagram -> thesprintagency, drop us a line, or visit our website -> www.thesprint.agency.
We’re super interested to hear what you think and love to discuss. You can leave your thoughts and comments below.
Innovative greetings from Amsterdam,
Lonneke Boonzaaijer @TheSprint.Agency