I led a 4-day design sprint to address critical business questions and rapidly develop a tested solution.

My approach integrated deep product strategy and design expertise to ensure impactful outcomes.

Overview of my process to lead the design sprint:

The Story

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1. Scope

My objective was to maximize the investment of time and ensure effective outcomes from the design sprint.

Defined and executed a comprehensive UX research plan, including discovery interviews, data analysis, persona development, and user journey mapping.
Collaborated with stakeholders two weeks prior to the sprint to identify and select the most critical problem to solve.
Formulated a challenge that linked the entire user context to the organization's overarching goals.
Established the sprint team, defined the sprint schedule, prepared the workspace, recruited end-users for testing, and presented the design sprint brief to ensure a common understanding among stakeholders.

I tailored the standard design sprint process to meet our specific goals.

Participants explored the context, problem, insights, and identified challenge areas for impactful solutions.
Workshops: Lightning talks, Long-term goal setting, Mapping, Expert consultations, "How Might We" questions, Target selection.

Participants were inspired by demos, sketched creative solutions, selected the best idea to prototype, and built a storyboard.
Workshops: Lightning demos, Solution sketching, Sticky decision-making, Storyboarding.

Participants developed the selected solution using Figma, a collaborative prototyping tool.
Workshops: Role planning, Tool selection, Prototype building, Interview guide creation, Dry run.

Participants tested the prototype with users to validate solutions and gathered insights for future steps.
Workshops: User interviews, Insights analysis, Next steps planning, Sprint conclusion.

The challenge with a design sprint is to transform ideas into actionable plans.

Coached the product owner to convert the prototype into a story map, presenting features through the target user experience.
Assisted in prioritizing features for each step of the user journey, creating a roadmap and initiating the product backlog.
Encouraged the team to continue engaging with users and applying agile best practices, ensuring solutions stayed aligned with user needs.

A shared understanding of the design sprint’s purpose is crucial; it’s not a black box solution for all problems.
Post-sprint follow-up and support are essential to ensure that ideation leads to tangible outcomes, preventing frustration and disinterest.
Innovation requires challenging the status quo, which demands resilience and readiness to face obstacles.