In short: Design Sprints work well within your office for most topics. But when you're working on a sensitive topic, want to create a retreat-like experience or want staff to discover other parts of the organization different from HQ it's smart to go outside of the office.

Inside the office for most topics

For most topics you can perfectly do a design sprint within your own office spaces as long as you have a room that can be used only for the Design Sprint during its whole duration.

Outside the office for sensitive topics

For sensitive topics where a critical point of view about the company or its policies is needed, it's sometimes better to be outside the usual office space. When you are in a different space you can be more critical without the fear of someone arriving in the middle of very critical conversation.

Outside to create a retreat-like experience

If you have the budget, I recommend doing the design sprint outside your usual office setting. It offers a sort of retreat that people particularly enjoy.

Outside HQ to discover other parts of the organization

For those in big organizations, consider doing this retreat mode by holding the sprint in a local or regional office instead of the main HQ, that can feel also like a little retreat while keeping the budget low. Doing this also allows team members to discover other local services or parts of the company they might not know about. It's a nice element to create a stronger company culture.

Outside HQ to immerse the team in another part of the organization

For specific topics related to a local branch or department, immersing yourself in that particular environment can be pretty strong. Doing the Design Sprint in the context of where that service or product will live makes the ideation and prototyping even better.

Made with AI help
This article was is based on an audio note I recorded while walking which was transcribed and rewritten by the app Audiopen. I then reviewed it manually :)