In short: Here are a few things you can do in advance to save time during a Design Sprint:

• Prepare a prototype template

• Ask participants to bring inspirations for the Lightning Demos

• Prepare the Design Sprint in advance

• My rule of thumb: what can be done before is done before

Prepare a prototype template

One key preparation is to create a prototype template. I like to think in advance about how I'll prototype the service or idea that comes out of the sprint. This could be a pre-structured landing page or a storyboard with a base structure. I also prepare prototyping material like an illustration kit, images and so on to speed up the process. I like to decide in advance on the tools I'll use for the prototyping so that I can focus solely on making the prototype during the sprint.

Ask participants to bring inspirations for the Lightning Demos

If the participants are okay to do a one hour preparation at home I ask participants to bring relevant inspirations for lightning demos. A lightning demo is a session where people showcase existing services and products an show what is inspiring and how it could apply to our project. By having participants prepare in advance, we save time on the research side of things and can spend the time during the sprint on learning what these inspirations teach us (and also make the lightning demo shorter).

Prepare the Design Sprint in advance

If you're working within a big organization, an end report might be necessary. Prepare the format and structure of this report ahead of time. Validate it if possible. During the sprint, you just need to fill in the information without worrying about design or structure.

My rule of thumb: what can be done before is done before

For each Design Sprint, aim to prepare as much as possible in advance. This allows you to spend more time on activities that require co-creation during the sprint itself.

With all this preparation in advance I can usually run the four first days of a classical design sprint in just two days.

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 :)