In short: Show what makes a design sprint different: together alone, time pressure, no big conversations. And let people know this will be unusual and uncomfortable at times, but that it's important they let you know if it hurts..

Together Alone

During a design sprint, we work together but individually. We all tackle the same challenge in the same room, but there's minimal talking. Instead, we work in parallel. This is very different from the typical meetings where there's lots of discussion but not much doing.

Time Pressure

Design sprints come with time constraints. We push ourselves to move quickly and stimulate creativity. This might be new for some participants used to meetings where there is no time pressure.

No Big Presentations or discussions

In a design sprint, there aren't formal presentations of the work you did. Instead, we have exhibition times where people can review your work in silence. If needed people will ask questions if they have a question. In meetings a lot of time is spent presenting orally what people can already read by themselves, so hear again this is very different to what people are used to. The beauty of this approach is that it's much faster as we are much faster in reading than in listening to what is said orally.

A good trick: warn people it will tickle

At the start of every workshop, I tell participants that this experience will differ from what they're used to. It's normal to feel a bit uncomfortable, but if it hurts, they should let us know. This helps people accept the time pressure and newness while knowing they can share if something needs adjusting.

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 :)