Octopus Marketing went through its first GV design sprint organized by our customer EXA3D and the results exceeded by far our expectations!

Sooo what is design sprint about? It is a 5-day 5-step design process, defined by Jake Knapp and team from GV (formerly Google Ventures). At the end of the 5 days (5 days only right!), you will get a high fidelity prototype tested by your customers! I was amazed by the quality of the prototype EXA3D got in 5 days, it would have taken months to get to this level with a classic project management style.

Oh well another one for startup companies! Definitively not, this process can be used by large groups AND startups who want to launch a new business, product line, service or are looking for evolutions.

Remember those hours of brainstorming, leading to… er not much actually. What I really like is the fact that it is a “no fuss” 5-day process driven by a facilitator and a team of max 7 people. The time constraint is big and forces us to find solutions without drowning into complexity:

Day 1- State your problem and define exactly what you want to focus on.

Day 2 – Draft individual solutions to the problem.

Day 3 – Consolidate the solutions (keep/eliminate).

Day 4 – Create a prototype.

Day 5 – Test your prototype in real life.

After all, design sprint is about finding solutions and testing them, it can be applied to various contexts, beyond product design. According to the authors, the best sprints come from solving critical issues.

Learn more about design sprint here and there is also a book available worth buying. And do not hesitate to contact Octopus Marketing to discuss we’ll be happy to share more