In short: Most of the time. In fact, Design Sprints are overkill for simpler challenges. Design Sprints for me are the exception. Still, they are great for complex, high-risk projects with many stakeholders.

Design Sprints are overkill for simpler challenges

There are times when you just need a few ideas or to build a quick prototype. If the cost of failure isn't big, a traditional two-hour or four-hour workshop might be enough. These shorter sessions will bring you much faster to results than a Design Sprint.

Design Sprints are great for complex projects

A Design Sprint works well when you're dealing with a complex concept, problem or new service ideas. It's particularly nice when you need to involve many different stakeholders. Design Sprint are also pretty good when the thing you are designing can have a huge cost if it fails. If things go wrong, people might get really upset. For these situations Design Sprints offer a more in depth look that shorter workshops.

Design Sprints are the exception

Design Sprints are for me the exception. I do them only for big projects, for most projects I do smaller custom made workshops.

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 :)