Designing a Design Sprint
THE PROBLEM
In designing the design sprint and pitch program, we used each session to redesign the design sprint program. After each design sprint, a retrospective meeting and report followed.
What is the retrospective process?
It is a qualitative research method that involves interviewing a focus group of participants and sponsors (around 15 people) in a 2-3 hour, live session. Several open questions are asked, and responses are documented. The main output is a retrospective report.
The retrospect process is far different from the typical "lessons learned" document many project professionals do at the end of a product. It is more detailed than the typical after-action summary.
Problem to be Solved and Goals
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Moving an organization to digital products and new business models can be challenging. To accelerate change, we introduced a week-long design sprint process culminating with an executive pitch presentation for funding or implementation. We were not too concerned about the digital products disrupting the market or having a significant customer impact. We focused on helping others learn how to produce digital products.
We were more concerned about assisting others in changing and learning about digital product design, not by reading an online course or being lectured by an instructor, but by tackling real problems with a prototype and rationale for further funding or implementation.
Duration of Project
3 Months
Pilot Participants
50 employees
Tools
Microsoft Office
BREAKING DOWM THE PROCESS
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Methodology (Qualitative Research)
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Focus Group Interviews (retrospective focus group process)
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Retrospective report
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Steps in creating the retrospective activity
Timeline of the Design Sprint Program Evolution
A sample document of captured participant information during the retrospective meeting
The Retrospective Report
The meeting may have up to fifteen participants who have experienced the product. Sponsors are also welcome to attend. Once captured, information is translated into a retrospective report and shared and disseminated to program owners and participants.
Samples of the Retrospective Report
Results
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The retrospect process is one of the most effective ways to identify what is working and what needs improvement in a very transparent way. It helped clarify issues, concerns, and problems before completing the program's design. Using action items and actionable knowledge, we improved the program at each iteration. Reviewing the goals helped us see the progress.
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Actual digital products were produced, and projects were funded for more research. Several products went into production or were merged with other emerging technologies.
Reflections
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The retrospective, with the core elements that Kent Greene implemented, helped to significantly improve the program. It went further than a typical end-of-project lesson learned, which is usually read and filed. The retrospective is a living document, changing as the needs and program or product change.
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Retrospectives were done live and online. We found that the live sessions and online participation channeled maximum engagement. If possible, do several retrospectives at different locations in person and then meet online with everyone to review the findings.
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One of the most critical aspects of the retrospective focus meeting and report is reviewing the goals. Seeing where you are, create OKR (Objective Key Results) moments. This is before the design or product is completed. Second, actionable knowledge is very useful. Actionable knowledge is what you can do next or shortly to make improvements or add value. It is forward-looking and plays well into the continuous improvement mindset.