How to assemble your design sprint

team | Inside Design Blog

Updated 8/4/17: Weʼve updated this post with even more info. Enjoy!

Design sprints are reshaping how the most progressive companies build
ideas into functioning products. Within a sprint, youʼll build a team-wide
understanding of a well-defined a design challenge, ideate solutions, vote
on the best conceived solution, build a functional prototype of that solution,
and test that prototype with 5 targeted customers.

Did I mention this all happens within 5 days?

In this article, weʼre going to focus on 2 topics thatʼll help you prepare a
team that can run a successful design sprint:

E. Generating support from your company to conduct a sprint

G. Putting the right sprint team together to execute

Engage your company

Once youʼve put the pre-work in to select a business challenge to run your
design sprint on, your next step is getting others around you committed.
These people may include co-founders, board members, designers,
engineers, and marketers. They may be peers, managers, or junior
members.

Related: Frequently asked questions about design sprints

Depending on outside pressure and your teamʼs progress, getting everyone

to agree to a design sprint may be the easiest decision youʼve made since
opening your doors. Or it may take some finessing—in which case weʼve
laid out 3 options for rallying everyone together.

Good news: Weʼve already tested and validated each of these options time
and again. Weʼve also experimented with others, but none had as much
success.

Option 1: Distribute copies of the Sprint book and

pitch it
Ask the team to read the book. Then break out Keynote, organize your
compelling pitch about the benefits of a design sprint, and call a meeting.

Image courtesy New Haircut.

Note: For the ultra lazies, you can prompt your team to skip the book and
review this Sprint Checklist (opens PDF).

Pros:

If they share your passion, they should be at least mildly stoked to give
it a shot
This is about as low-risk/low-cost as it gets

Cons:

People are not to be trusted + people are lazy = people may not read
the book or take you seriously
Your pitch bombs, people throw stuff at you, and youʼre never asked to
 participate in another sales call

Option 2: Run a 1-day sprint demo

With this approach youʼll run a hyper-condensed version of the design
sprint in one business day.

If we pretend the typical business day is a true 8 hours, youʼll leave one hour
first thing in the morning for the team to take care of their administrative
duties and one hour for lunch. Use the other 6 hours to work through the
sprint.

Pros:

This highly collaborative environment is contagious. Expect it to boost

confidence and team dynamics.
6 hours should be easy to sell

Cons:

The abbreviated schedule could backfire if itʼs not laser-focused.

Consider bringing in some outside help (see option 3).

Option 3: Get some outside help

The previous options assume you have the team and know-how to create
your own momentum with design sprints. However, some of you reading
this may be a company of one. And some of you may simply not be up to
the task, or you donʼt have the time to rouse the team.

In these instances, consider bringing in some outside expertise, who already

have the process and experience nailed down.

You have 2 options here:

E. Training
G. Contracting a professional facilitator
Pros:

Outsiders with vetted experience tend to carry more influence

Pros whoʼve run many sprints will be able to offer outside perspective
The best facilitators will help you avoid costly mis-steps and
landmines, so you can focus on the company objectives rather than
managing sprint operations

Cons:

Options are often slim for finding trustworthy providers

In the end, the goal is for you to get your existing team on board with a
running a 5-day design sprint. Consider your team dynamics, roadmap, and
pressures so you can get them over that hump with as little friction as
possible. And if you discover a better option, please let us know.

Your sprint team

Once your company is enacted to run a sprint, the next order of business is
selecting and rallying your sprint team. Youʼll want to assemble a balanced
team that can fully commit to the process. But youʼll also need a good mix of
personalities, skills, and disciplines.

Google Ventures recommends a team no larger than 7. We agree—

otherwise, you go from running a sprint to managing a mob. You will have
your hands full keeping the team from jumping directly into solution mode–
that dynamic worsens the more people you have in the room.

Below are the 5 roles weʼve found to be absolutely necessary in running a

quality sprint.

Product chief, AKA the Shot-caller or Decider

This is the person with the most sway, and often the biggest, shiniest voting
stickers. Though itʼs often the case, this wonʼt always be the boss / owner /
VP of Product / CEO. In some cases weʼve seen heads of customer service,
lead engineers, and sales execs charter this role. Whatʼs most important is
that this person has the most tangible exposure to the problem youʼre trying
to solve.

Facilitator
The design sprint facilitator undoubtedly has the biggest load to carry. Of all
the roles on the sprint team, this is the one we get hired to help out with the
most.

Aside from confirming youʼve done all of the required pre-sprint work and
that the best-fitting cast has been assembled (sprint team, experts, and
customers), there is also a ton to manage during and after the sprint.
Designate one person on your sprint team as the facilitator

—their primary role is to ensure the team keeps up with the aggressive pace
of a 5-day sprint.

Customer rep
If your product chief doesnʼt have immersive, daily interaction with your
customers, be sure to recruit this role onto your sprint team. Theyʼll often be
the ones to cut through the sales and marketing hype youʼve tried ad
nauseam, while pinpointing the precise issues your customers face.

Designer
In another article we talked about creating Goldilocks-quality prototypes.
Having a designer involved in the sprint process is important because they
can quickly make things look good enough.

Design sprints also require lots of visualizing of ideas. Designers (along with
the facilitator) are often leaned on to help encourage this show-donʼt-tell
approach.

Engineer
While you donʼt need to be a technology company to run a sprint, the
majority of prototypes youʼll be testing will require some kind of engineering
talent. The engineer on the team may produce software, hardware, or some
other real-world product prototype.

Marketing
The words used to describe and market your product as well as the words
within the product itself are just as important as the form and function of
your prototype. Make sure someone is present whoʼs blessed with the ability
to effectively wordsmith.

Bonus: Facilitator

There are a lot of moving parts to a design sprint. Donʼt forget that you have
to book conference rooms, organize lunch, capture notes, set timers,
interview customers, and keep the group on-task. Designate one person on
your sprint team as the facilitator
—their primary role is to ensure the team keeps up with the aggressive pace
of a 5-day sprint.

Summary
Design sprints require a commitment from your team. Once theyʼre in, youʼll
want to mobilize a team thatʼs willing to clear their schedules and charge
through the sprint. And hopefully you now have the structure to accomplish
those 2 objectives.

Does your team use design sprints? If you’d like to share your process on
the InVision Blog, get in touch with us on Twitter: @InVisionApp.

Youʼll love these posts, too

Fixing your design teamʼs communication problems
Handsomeʼs lead designers on how to build trust with your team