Sprint as Google Design Sprint is a verification method based on the book "Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days", by Jake Knapp. That's one long title so I'll just refer to it as Sprint.
Prototyping is nothing new but this book combines different techniques and creates a highly valuable guide for validating ideas. We, the Pocket Solutions team have done three of these Sprint weeks so far.
When can Sprint help?
"The bigger the challenge, the better the sprint" - states the book. Sprint can be used in many different situations.
High Stakes - If you are facing a big problem that requires a lot of time and money, with sprint, you can check if your large project is heading in the right directions, new sets of eyes can often easily point out potential causes for failure never noticed before. It is much better to double-triple check before you start pouring in resources only to notice something severe half way in.
Not Enough Time - Deadlines are a great source of stress, under the stress of deadlines people often don't have time to find the correct solutions. With Sprint you can answer your questions and find the ideal solutions for your needs just in five days.
Stuck Project - Projects can be hard to start as everyone wants to do the right. Some may decide to change direction after a while and require a push in the right direction. We can help you find the path your idea needs, and give you a new perspective with a potential fresh approach. To learn about more examples where Sprint was used visit sprintstories.
Problem solving
This method enables the team to identify, solve and test problems that seem far too large to be solved just in five days. By the end of day 5 we have answered all the questions, made a realistic prototype, have feedback from real potential users through usability tests. This is done by dividing the work between the team members and setting daily goals.
Idea validation
Do you have an idea for a product or a service but you are not sure if it is good enough for the market? You came to the right place! Sprint can be used to verify ideas and projects. We will identify high risk failure points in your project and find solutions to them. In a week a realistic prototype will be created and used on the usability tests preformed by real potential customers. At the end of the five days, we will come to a conclusion and suggest you one of two things, Greenligh the project -meaning that with the help of Sprint we have successfully validated your idea. Don't Greenlight it - we will also tell you if the five days of work yield a negative result meaning, that the project cannot make it on the market. This won't make us popular, but will save our reputation and potentially a lot of money and time for you.
The team
The team should consist of a wide range of specialists such as developers, marketing, management, engineering, design, etc... The cooperation of people with different mindsets and fields of expertise will create a creative team.
To learn more about sprint please visit our affiliate website sprint.pocketsolutions.eu where we go into details.