FACILITATING
DESIGN
SPRINTSBy Ezekiel “Zeke” Binion
@ebinion
UX Camp 2017

What are Design Sprints?

A highly collaborative process from
Google to prototype your ideas and test
them on real users in just five days.
Google’s Sprint

How does it work?
Understand
Define the
opportunity and
map the ideal
experience
Diverge
Sketch creative
solutions for the
problem
Decide
Review the
solutions and
decide what we’ll
pursue
Prototype
Make the
prototype and
interview guide
Test & Learn
Test our ideas with
5 real people
day
1
day
5

We implemented Design Sprints at
Table XI last year
It took some hard work but we did it.

We ran a Design Sprint one of the
nation’s largest Ideas Festivals

In our client’s
own words…

2 big lessons to share
How to sell Design Sprints in your organization
How to facilitate them when you do

Selling Design Sprints
Part 1

Selling to the suits
Conveying the costs, risks, and
opportunities to your organization’s
leaders is critical
Selling points
• We have an opportunity to find an idea that our customers love
and reshape how we approach product design
• By only investing 1 week into the idea, instead of months, it’s
easy to purse another idea if it failed
• Sprint requires a time investment from a leader to play the role
of decider, but we only require their presence for days 1 and 3
Selling Design Sprints

Selling to developers
Developers are craftsman too. However
getting their time can be difficult.
Selling points
• We have an opportunity to find out if we’re building the right
thing before we make it
• On Wednesday we need your help understand the technical
concerns of our idea
• If the developer is unable to attend the entire Sprint, you could
ask them to only attend day 3 and observe 1 or 2 tests on day 5
Selling Design Sprints

Answering the “research question”
Are 5 users enough to get statistically significant results?
Selling Design Sprints

No but…
5 users is not statistically significant but that’s not the goal.
We’re looking for directional accuracy.
Selling Design Sprints

Selling to researchers
Researchers and data-orientated
stakeholders need more context
Selling points
• According to a study performed by the Nelson Norman Group,
beyond 5 users of a single group we tend to find the same problems
(http://bit.ly/2kDgfVc)
• After the Sprint is over, we’ll want to spend time revising the design
based on what we’ve learned. We’ll test with users again and learn
even more
• Don Norman reminds us, “designers don’t start from zero.” Hopefully,
the team has been doing research outside of the context of project
we’ll be relying on that research as well. (http://bit.ly/2kgsx2n)
Selling Design Sprints

Questions about selling Sprints?

Facilitating Design Sprints
Part 2

Activities follow similar structures
Anatomy of an activity Modeled from Gamestorming
Opening
(Divergent)
Closing
(Convergent)
Exploration
Make everyone feel
welcome. Establish what
we’re doing and why.
Bring things to a conclusion.
Establish what we agreed to
and ensure everyone
is aligned.
Keep everyone on task.
Facilitating Design Sprints

Always be prepared
Preparation is the best way to reduce
anxiety/fear associated with leading
a group
• Practice activity openings
• Create a checklist
• Give the participants homework
• Have backup exercises
Facilitating Design Sprints

Here’s a few great books on facilitation (links are on the resources slide)
Good sources for backup exercises
Facilitating Design Sprints

“Be yourself; everyone else is
already taken.”
- Oscar Wilde
Facilitating Design Sprints

Be yourself; only better
Facilitating conversations is a lot like user research
• Be neutral, when you can be
• Use open questions to explore topics
• Restate answers in your own words to confirm understanding
and expose gaps
• Practice 5 whys
Facilitating Design Sprints

Be a great host
Make everyone feel comfortable
• Feed people (if you're having a long meeting)
• Take breaks every 1.5 - 2 hours
• Encourage quiet people to participate
• Check the room temperature
• Be considerate of health issues and disabilities
Facilitating Design Sprints

Facilitation Resources
• Sprint (Book) http://amzn.to/2kec1oy
• Gamestorming (Book) http://amzn.to/2lByUiU
• CTRL SHIFT (Book) http://amzn.to/2luKTBO
• Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making (Book) http://amzn.to/2kT1uMD
• Designing the Conversation (Book) http://amzn.to/2l4hM7y
• Good Kickoff Meetings (website) GoodKickoffMeetings.com
• Sprint Stories (Medium) SprintStories.com
• “How we’re adapting Google’s Design Sprint to get testable prototypes in a week”
(Table XI Blog) http://bit.ly/2ke97A8

Questions about facilitating Sprints?
Next Steps (not goodbye)
• Visit this link: http://bit.ly/2l0b8PS for a copy of this presentation
• Speak to me if you want to know more about Table XI hiring (note we have a chef…)
• Connect with me at @ebinion and continue the conversation