In the last 5 years we've had the chance to apply and adapt the Google Ventures Design Sprint to a few interesting problems in IoT, Machine Learning, and Smart Home.
A Design Sprint is an intensive 5-day process that compresses weeks of work into one week. Key stakeholders gather and work together working through the prescribed process, identifying key questions, ideas and challenges, followed by rapid prototyping, working towards a user tested experiment.
We have used the core pattern of the design sprint successfully in a few novel contexts and problem spaces. With each new engagement we've learned what to add and remove to fit the needs of the project, and how to give the client helpful answers – even if they are not the answers they originally hoped for.
Highlights:
- Recipe Platform – Google Home smart display, personal digital assistant in the kitchen, making recipes personal, present, relevant.
- Printer Manufacturer – bringing voice to consumer printing; industrial design in 3 days; making projectors smarter and more connected;
- Sports Analytics Company – came in with a computer vision / AI remit, proceeded to uncover opportunity for statistical grounding, infrastructure improvements, new architecture, UX overhaul.
It might seem that these discoveries often result in a 'No' in answer to the original question set. That is by design, and a worthwhile outcome. The best time to discover a dead end is at the start of your journey, so changing direction is low-stress and low-cost. Design sprints are an excellent way to map out the opportunity space.
We've applied design sprints successfully to multiple problem spaces – software UX, hardware UX, data engineering, machine learning – and industries – printing, office tools, smart home, sports analytics. This demonstrates the flexibility and utility of the design sprint framework to work on a wide breadth of business needs and applications.
A design sprint as part of a careful technical and business exploration is a cost-effective way of getting answers to the essential questions about your product roadmap. Talk to us about how we can help you answer important questions, quickly, and get you up and running on product development, research, and digital transformation.
