FACILITATING DESIGN SPRINTSBy Ezekiel “Zeke” Binion @ebinion

UX Camp 2017

What are Design Sprints?

A highly collaborative process from Google to prototype your ideas and test

them on real users in just five days.

Google’s Sprint

How does it work?

Understand

Define the opportunity and

map the ideal experience

Diverge

Sketch creative solutions for the

problem

Decide

Review the solutions and

decide what we’ll pursue

Prototype

Make the prototype and interview guide

Test & Learn

Test our ideas with 5 real people

day

1

day

5

We implemented Design Sprints at Table XI last year

It took some hard work but we did it.

We ran a Design Sprint one of the nation’s largest Ideas Festivals

In our client’s own words…

2 big lessons to shareHow to sell Design Sprints in your organization

How to facilitate them when you do

Selling Design SprintsPart 1

Selling to the suitsConveying the costs, risks, and opportunities to your organization’s leaders is critical

Selling points • We have an opportunity to find an idea that our customers love

and reshape how we approach product design

• By only investing 1 week into the idea, instead of months, it’s easy to purse another idea if it failed

• Sprint requires a time investment from a leader to play the role of decider, but we only require their presence for days 1 and 3

Selling Design Sprints

Selling to developersDevelopers are craftsman too. However getting their time can be difficult.

Selling points • We have an opportunity to find out if we’re building the right

thing before we make it

• On Wednesday we need your help understand the technical concerns of our idea

• If the developer is unable to attend the entire Sprint, you could ask them to only attend day 3 and observe 1 or 2 tests on day 5

Selling Design Sprints

Answering the “research question”Are 5 users enough to get statistically significant results?

Selling Design Sprints

No but…5 users is not statistically significant but that’s not the goal.

We’re looking for directional accuracy.

Selling Design Sprints

Selling to researchersResearchers and data-orientated stakeholders need more context

Selling points • According to a study performed by the Nelson Norman Group,

beyond 5 users of a single group we tend to find the same problems (http://bit.ly/2kDgfVc)

• After the Sprint is over, we’ll want to spend time revising the design based on what we’ve learned. We’ll test with users again and learn even more

• Don Norman reminds us, “designers don’t start from zero.” Hopefully, the team has been doing research outside of the context of project we’ll be relying on that research as well. (http://bit.ly/2kgsx2n)

Selling Design Sprints

Questions about selling Sprints?

Facilitating Design SprintsPart 2

Activities follow similar structuresAnatomy of an activity Modeled from Gamestorming

Opening(Divergent)

Closing(Convergent)

Exploration

Make everyone feel welcome. Establish what

we’re doing and why.

Bring things to a conclusion. Establish what we agreed to

and ensure everyone is aligned.

Keep everyone on task.

Facilitating Design Sprints

Always be preparedPreparation is the best way to reduce anxiety/fear associated with leading a group

• Practice activity openings

• Create a checklist

• Give the participants homework

• Have backup exercises

Facilitating Design Sprints

Here’s a few great books on facilitation (links are on the resources slide)

Good sources for backup exercisesFacilitating Design Sprints

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

- Oscar Wilde

Facilitating Design Sprints

Be yourself; only betterFacilitating conversations is a lot like user research

• Be neutral, when you can be

• Use open questions to explore topics

• Restate answers in your own words to confirm understanding and expose gaps

• Practice 5 whys

Facilitating Design Sprints

Be a great hostMake everyone feel comfortable

• Feed people (if you're having a long meeting)

• Take breaks every 1.5 - 2 hours

• Encourage quiet people to participate

• Check the room temperature

• Be considerate of health issues and disabilities

Facilitating Design Sprints

Facilitation Resources• Sprint (Book) http://amzn.to/2kec1oy

• Gamestorming (Book) http://amzn.to/2lByUiU

• CTRL SHIFT (Book) http://amzn.to/2luKTBO

• Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making (Book) http://amzn.to/2kT1uMD

• Designing the Conversation (Book) http://amzn.to/2l4hM7y

• Good Kickoff Meetings (website) GoodKickoffMeetings.com

• Sprint Stories (Medium) SprintStories.com

• “How we’re adapting Google’s Design Sprint to get testable prototypes in a week” (Table XI Blog) http://bit.ly/2ke97A8

Questions about facilitating Sprints?Next Steps (not goodbye)

• Visit this link: http://bit.ly/2l0b8PS for a copy of this presentation

• Speak to me if you want to know more about Table XI hiring (note we have a chef…)

• Connect with me at @ebinion and continue the conversation