While the Design Sprint concept originates from within Google, Differential has developed a unique approach to sprint methodology over years of testing. Our approach accommodates both in-person and remote teams and has helped surface those “a-ha!” moments for teams and products of varying size and complexity.

Through many trials (and a few errors), we’ve discovered what we believe are the core attributes that make the sprint process more efficient and productive than traditional product ideation and design.

How design sprints unlock value for teams

1. Unleash the entrepreneur.

Design Sprints encourage an entrepreneurial mindset by providing a free, yet carefully structured space. Your core team members are invited to create WITHOUT ANY PRESSURE to draw, design, or have all the answers at the start.

We engage in simple exercises in the sprint workshops that foster open communication among the sprint team and help them shift their mindset away from day-to-day operations and towards solving bigger problems that we identify in the sprint.

And because the process is faster (a few weeks, instead of a few months) we get to see, experience, and test our solutions with minimal up-front investment.

2. Teamwork really does make the dream work.

By bringing together a cross-functional team from within your organization, we don’t rely on any one person to generate all the solutions. The sprint team’s collective and diverse knowledge and experience is key to its success.

In the sprint workshops, we’ll work incrementally and often anonymously so that we build on each other’s ideas and no one voice dominates the process.

Participants often remark that one of the most helpful aspects of the sprint process is finally having the opportunity to sit around the same table (whether virtually or in-person) with their teammates to work together on a problem they’ve been trying to solve for a while.

3. Simplicity is often better than complexity.

The relatively short timeline of our sprint process encourages us to focus on viable solutions to the problems the sprint seeks to address.

This means that we generate (and then prototype) solutions that represent realistic, testable user experiences so that we can validate our assumptions.

Our prototype doesn’t answer the question, “What could we do without consideration of our time, budget, or technology?” but, instead, answers the question, “What should we do given the constraints we have identified?”

4. Focus on solving a single problem.

The sprint process is not about delivering totally novel ideas and technology that will solve all your problems; it’s about imagining and designing the RIGHT solution to the RIGHT problem.

Working as a team to identify these (the problem and the solution) is where the magic happens. We have seen it over and over again. When passionate, knowledgeable people work together with a singular focus, we end up with a concept that is greater than the sum of its parts.

5. Having fun leads to better work.

It may be serious business, but we do our best to keep the entire sprint process and especially the workshops light and as un-taxing as possible.

The workshops offer a fun, collaborative, and creative environment for your team to do something outside of the normal routine.

We also don’t waste your time with needless meetings so that every interaction we have is one in which we’re making real progress - and we all know there’s nothing more fun than NOT having a pointless meeting.

Interested in what a design sprint could do for your team? Let’s connect.