DESIGN SPRINT

MASTER
Facilitator’s Guide

John Vetan Dana Vetan Codruta Lucuta Jim Kalbach

 DESIGN SPRINT
MASTER
Facilitator’s Guide

Copyright © 2018 by Design Sprint Academy

www.designsprint.academy

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or posted online without the
prior written permission of the publisher.
 John Vetan
Design Sprint StrategIst & Co-founder Design Sprint Academy

John has chartered the evolution of New Haircut’s design thinking process
over the past 6 years. Currently, as founder and strategist at the Design
Sprint Academy, John is helping organizations around the world use and
adopt Design Sprints as an effective way to innovate.

Dana Vetan
Training Program Manager & Co-founder Design Sprint Academy

Dana Vetan is a skilled design sprint facilitator, human resources

professional and psychologist, with more than 6 years experience in agile
software development. Currently, as Training Program Manager, Dana is
crafting the Design Sprint Academy curricula to help organizations adopt
design sprints.

Codruta Lucuta
Trainer & Collaborator Design Sprint Academy

As a trainer and human resources consultant Codruta dedicated her career to

understanding the human nature and what teams need in order to perform.
Over the last 14 years, she has facilitated hundreds of workshops for
numerous multinational companies on different topics like Train the
Trainers, Team Effectiveness, Team Coaching, Emotional Intelligence.

Jim Kalbach
Author, Head Of Customer Experience at MURAL

Jim Kalbach is a noted author, speaker, and instructor in user experience

design, information architecture, and strategy. He is currently the Head of
Customer Success with MURAL, a leading online whiteboard for digital
collaboration. 

2
 Foreword

This guide is the result of the dozens sprints and workshops we have run around the
world with a large variety of organizations ranging from startups to enterprise,
across a multitude of industries.

We work tirelessly to make our Design Sprints practical, innovative and fun for our
clients. Everything we put in in this manual has been battle-tested in real projects
and many times we wished we had this knowledge before going head first into our
sprints.

That's why we carefully developed this Guide to prepare you, in a day-by-day

format, to facilitate your organization’s next Design Sprint. Pay attention to our
exclusive “PRO Tips” for special advice and valuable context.

We are also keen to improve the process and make it more efficient. That's why a
special thanks goes to Jim Kalbach for his insights and contribution to user research
and mapping parts of the manual.

For all these reasons we would like to share this Design Sprint Master Guide with
you, and our hope is that this will be an invaluable reference whenever you need to
tackle another Design Sprint.

In that case,
Good luck! Let us hear from you.

P.S. We want to give a special shout-out to Jake Knapp, whose book, “Sprint, How
To Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas In Just Five Days (2016, Simon &
Shuster),” is a constant inspiration for us and from which we gleaned various
concepts and information for our workshops and this Guide. We offer heartfelt
thanks to Jake Knapp for his global leadership in the world of Design Sprints.

3
 Design Sprints

What is a Design Sprint?

A 5-day design framework for validating ideas and solving big challenges.

Where does it come from?

The Google design sprint framework was created in 2010 by Google Ventures and
made popular by the book “Sprint, How To Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas
In Just Five Days (2016, Simon & Shuster).

What does it involve?

‣ 1 big challenge or critical problem that needs solving

‣ 1 team of 7-10 people with diverse skills and areas of expertise, working
together for 5 days to come up with a solution (prototype) to the above
mentioned challenge, while guided by a Sprint Master (facilitator)

‣ 5 users to test the prototype in the last day of the sprint.

4
How does it work?

Understand
Day 1 – Monday is all about understanding the challenge and exploring the problem
space. That involves empathizing with users, mapping their journeys and
experiences to identify pain points and opportunities for the future. All with a a bold
goal in mind, that the team sets. By the end of the day the team would have selected
the most critical point in the journey, and come up with questions that need
answers by the end of the week. These questions would then drive solutions to be
built and tested.

Ideate
Day 2 – Once the team understands the problem it’s time to go into solution mode.
It starts with gathering inspiration and then each member of the team will come up
with their own solution.

Decide
Day 3 – This is about voting and deciding which solution gets prototyped. It can be
one of the solutions, but more often than not it’s a combination of the best parts of
multiple ideas.

Prototype
Day 4 – The team creates a realistic prototype based on whatever was decided on
Wednesday.

Test
Day 5 – The prototype is tested with 5 users which will validate or invalidate the
solution. At the end of the day the teams knows how to move forward, whether their
solution was validated or not.

5
When to run a Design Sprint?
The framework can be used anytime an organization needs to answer critical
business questions, when a project is stuck or when big problems don’t have an
obvious solution,.

Design Sprints can be applied in a multitude of use cases, to:

✓ Assess the viability of new businesses

✓ Jumpstart a project, product or service

✓ Ideate a specific area of a product

✓ Discover the right priorities and features for a product

✓ Create an MVP Roadmap

✓ Engage new audiences

✓ Define marketing and growth strategies

When not to run a Design Sprint?

Design Sprints have their limitations and might not be the ideal solution when :

You are trying to cover all aspects of a very complex product/service at once.
Sprints are very focused on answering specific questions you don’t have
obvious answers to.

You want to explore multiple use cases and hypothesis. Sprints are 1 week
long (or less) and the team can’t cover all possible hypothesis in such a
short timeframe.

You don’t understand or can’t articulate the problem you are trying to solve.
The design sprint is a process that helps coming up with a solution. Make
sure the problem is well defined ahead by mapping it to a clear business goal
and a client need.

6
You already know what the solution is or what to build.

There is no clear plan or support to execute the sprint outcomes. Without

this in most cases the sprint week is just a wasted week.

You are looking for just small improvements to your product or service.
Sprints are not a replacement of standard UX processes. Use sprints to
answer big questions and set/validate a direction.

You think of them as a magic pill. Design Sprints are not effective by
themselves but when they are integrated with other process in the
organization.

7
 1
Pre-Sprint
 1. Identify the challenge

A. Identify Key Stakeholders

Start by identifying key stakeholders with whom you need to speak. Your goal is to
gather relevant information from all three perspectives: Business, Technical and
Customer.

Get answers to the questions:

‣ Who is responsible for the project?

‣ Who sponsors changes, new initiatives and has decision-making power?

‣ Who knows about the history of the project and previous efforts?

‣ Who represents the voice of the customer/user?

‣ Who builds it? Maintains it?

B. Interview Stakeholders
Interview key stakeholders or run a short Discovery Workshop to understand the
challenge and define if additional customer development research is needed prior to
the sprint.

Get answers to these questions:

‣ WHY is this a problem? And WHY is it important?

‣ WHAT evidence do you have that this is worth the investment?

‣ For WHOM is this a problem?

‣ What previous EFFORTS were tried to fix this problem?

‣ What are possible SOLUTIONS to your problem?

Pre-Sprint | 1. Identify the challenge 9

 ‣ What are some CONSTRAINTS you might face?

‣ What is the ultimate IMPACT you are trying to have by solving problem?

‣ Based on the above, how would you REFRAME this challenge?

‣ What ASSUMPTIONS need to be tested with users/customers?

Jim Kalbach

C. Research Users
As much as possible, ground your sprint in insight from users in your market.
This need not take a long time or come with a high effort. Be sure to enter this
sprint with some evidence about your users.

You can consult three sources of possible information to get feedback quickly:

‣ Review existing resources. This can include email feedback, phone calls,
blog comments, social media activity, formal marketing studies, and
industry reports. Extract relevant information that can inform your
sprint.

‣ Interview people internally elsewhere in the organization. Find people not

in the sprint team who were in your target group or who have direct
contact with users regularly. This can include sales and marketing
specialists as well as customer support agents, for instance. Keep in mind
that they are proxies for real users, but still may be able to offer relevant
insights.

‣ Interview users. Obviously, the best thing you can do is to talk to people
before the sprint. Go on location in you can, but a series of conference
calls might also suffice. Ask specific questions about their goals and
needs, and what pain points they have.

Pre-Sprint | 1. Identify the challenge 10

 ‣ You should be able to at least one of the above in most cases. If no user
research is possible, then make sure use the first step in your sprint is to
understand users. You can do quick observations on site or make a series
of calls to users in parallel in one segment, for instance.

An alternative is to invite a subject matter expert from outside the company and
sprint team to participate in the sprint. This brings a unique user-centric
perspective into the session.

Regardless of your starting point, be sure to test and validate prototypes and
assumptions with users at the end of the sprint.

D. Set the Challenge

Use all of the information you gathered so far and formulate a design challenge that
you can tackle in a Design Sprint.

Design Challenge Checklist:

Start with “How Might We…”

Make sure it’s not too narrow – or too broad.

Don’t over-think it; the challenge doesn’t need to be 100% formed at this
point

Pre-Sprint | 1. Identify the challenge 11

 EXAMPLES OF DESIGN CHALLENGES 1

1. Problem: “It’s so noisy around here that I have trouble concentrating.”

Just Right
Too Narrow Too Broad

How might we create more How might we design the How might we help people
private offices so employees space to accommodate a focus?
can concentrate better? range of working styles?

2. Problem: “I wish our staff got their expense reports in on time.”

Just Right
Too Narrow Too Broad

How might we use a How might we simplify the How might we get people to
smartphone app to speed expense reporting process so have more respect for
expense reporting? that people can complete it deadlines?
more quickly?

1 Kelley, Tom. Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All (p. 238). The Crown Publishing Group.

Pre-Sprint | 1. Identify the challenge 12

 2. Assemble the team

Now you have set the challenge and have all of the information you can get prior to
the sprint. This should guide you when helping the sprint sponsors and
stakeholders assemble a team.

To do that, just follow this simple rule of thumb: “Create a balanced mix of
expertise in Business, Human and Technical areas”.

VIABILITY
DESIRABILITY (BUSINESS)
(HUMAN)

FEASIBILITY INNOVATION
(TECHNOLOGICALY)

Invite and engage the sprint team by setting expectations and selling the benefits
of the Design Sprint process:

‣ Ideally, set up a meeting/workshop to get everyone on board by sharing the

project vision, challenge and research

‣ If not possible, send the Design Sprint Brief to the team and make sure that
everyone clears their calendars for the week

Pre-Sprint | 2. Assemble the team 13

 The Team:
‣ Up to 10 people

‣ Middle to Expert level

‣ Most should be knowledgeable or at least familiar with the project/challenge

‣ With a strong background in one of the key areas:

Business/Strategy/Organizational Culture
‣ CPO/ProductManager/ Director or Owner

‣ Project Manager

‣ CEO/Founder

‣ HR Manager

‣ Financial Expert

Customers/Marketing
‣ MarketingManager/CMO /Product Marketing Manager

‣ UX Lead/UX Strategist/UX Researcher

‣ Customer-interface Expert/ Customer Support Manager/ Customer

Engagement Officer

Technical/Engineering

‣ Engineer/Developer/CTO Manager/Customer Engagement Officer

Pre-Sprint | 2. Assemble the team 14

 PRO TIPS

Why is getting the right team for your Design Sprint important?

The prototype will reflect the expertise of the sprint team. Bringing entry-level team members or
employees from around the organization with no expertise/familiarity with the challenge or who
are simply curious/enthusiastic about the project will add no value to the outcome. This also
would require a lot of energy from the team members to bring others up to speed. If you lack
specific expertise for your sprint you can do one or both of the following:

✓ Bring in 1 - 2 external consultants to bridge that gap

✓ Invite experts to show up for your Interviews on Day 1

Pre-Sprint | 2. Assemble the team 15

 3. Secure and Prepare the Space

The physical space where the Design Sprint takes place is very important. Make sure
it meets the requirements below:

✓ Ample wall space

✓ Large whiteboards (at least 2)

✓ A Flipchart

✓ A large TV (for presentation deck and streaming user interviews)

✓ Enough space to move around comfortably

✓ Natural light

✓ Modular tables (not a big conference table)

✓ Coffee, water and power snacks available throughout each day

If possible, make this an off-site meeting. If the sprint must be on the

organization’s premises, make sure that the room is reserved for the whole week so
that there are no distractions for the team.

Arrange lunch so it does not exceed 1 hour. If there is no cafeteria on-site, go to a

nearby restaurant (pre-order each morning to save time) or order take-in.
Important: Note any participants’ dietary restrictions in advance.

i Sprint Supplies:
Get the complete Sprint Kit from http://thesprintkit.com

Pre-Sprint | 3. Secure and Prepare the Space 16

 2
During-Sprint
 Monday

Understand: Gain clarity on the product/service/idea,

customer needs, the market and technical possibilities

Define: Product/service goal, proposition or features

(positioning, user journey, metrics)

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 Your Goal: Team Outcomes:

Align the team towards a common ✓ Long-Term Goal

understanding of the ✓ Sprint Questions
problem/design challenge and ✓ User Journey Map
agree on the process/strategy to
✓ Experts Interviews Findings
arrive at a solution.
✓ Target - Sprint Focus

Kick-off

‣ Present/clarify/refresh the Design Sprint method to the team.

‣ Emphasize the benefits of the method (for them, for the team, for the
organization).

‣ Set realistic expectations regarding the process (results-orientated approach,

speed of work, confusion involved, value of out-of-the-box thinking, embracing
a new way of solving problems).

‣ Present the plan for the entire week & the Daily Agenda.

‣ Get consensus on the rules of interaction between team members.

‣ Restate the reasons for organizing the sprint by reminding them of the challenge
and also by inviting the Sprint Sponsor to hold a short motivational speech.

‣ Explain that your role as a Facilitator is to manage time, conversations and

process in order to reach results within the week (or duration of the sprint).

‣ Explain and clarify everyone’s roles and purpose as part of the sprint team.

‣ Help team members learn more about each other (using ice-breaker activities) in
order to spark collaboration, and also to raise awareness on their individual
strengths & expertise.

‣ Explain that the Design Sprint is a team effort and success or failure is on
everyone.

During-Sprint | Monday 19
 Long-Term Goal
Monday is about looking into the future and creating a plan of action for the project.
PERSPECTIVE. Help your team formulate a long-term goal by asking open-ended
questions:

‣ What is the purpose of this project? Why is this worth pursuing?

‣ What milestones do we want to attain in 6 to 12 months or 5 to 10 years?

‣ What impact will we have?

‣ Who will benefit from our success, and how?

The goal does not need to be perfect. If it takes too much time phrasing it into an
ideal goal, put an end to the discussion so you don’t jeopardize the rest of the day‘s
agenda and work with what you have at that point. Let the team know that the rest
of the activities that day (questions, interviews and user journey maps) will help
shape the goal into its final form.

As the Facilitator this can be the most difficult phase to manage but you have to
trust the process and convey that confidence to the team.

PRO TIPS

Capture “verbs” or “keywords” on the whiteboard while the team is bouncing around ideas.
Later, this list will help you formulate a phrase and keep the team’s memory up to date.

If you get stuck, use this template for inspiration:

“Our goal is to … in order to … for…”

During-Sprint | Monday 20
 PRO TIPS

Long-term goal checklist:

It inspires the team It’s not an Key Performance

Indicator
It’s real, and needs to be delivered
It’s not as broad as a vision /
It contains a variety of explicit and
mission statement
implicit human needs
It can be easily remembered 10
It allows a range of solutions
minutes later
It doesn’t include a metric

Sprint Questions
Help your team envision the project success AND all possible roadblocks / reasons
for failure by asking open-ended questions (don’t be shy):

‣ In this sprint, what burning question(s) must we answer?

‣ If we are to meet our long-range goal, this absolutely must be true:

_______.

‣ If we peer into a crystal ball and see our project has bombed terribly, can we
see the reasons why?

‣ How will we know that it was a success?

‣ How will management define it as a success?

‣ How will customers evaluate it?

During-Sprint | Monday 21
 PRO TIPS

1. Again, keeping in mind PERSPECTIVE, pre-fill the whiteboard with:

‣ “Will we …?”

‣ “Will we be able to …?”

‣ “Will we know …?”

‣ “Can we know …?”

‣ “How can we?

2. Seek quantity and write down everyone’s suggestions. You’ll have the chance to filter the
most important questions later.

3. Be prepared to use a couple of examples of goals and questions from previous sprints. Or
make up some using familiar brands. Ideally, you will form one or two questions based on
your current sprint goal to get the team’s creative juices flowing.

Jim Kalbach

Map
If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, a map of the user journey communicates
volumes to your sprint team in a single visualization. Start with an as-is
diagram to illustrate how customers currently experience  the product or
service before moving to the to-be scenario.

During-Sprint | Monday 22
 There are four main steps in using a user journey map:

1. SET-UP THE DIAGRAM


A simple grid with a chronological sequence of steps is all you need. Here’s
how:
‣ On the left, indicate the primary user
‣ On the right, put possible endings/outcomes
‣ In middle create a timeline with 6-9 phases of interaction

2. MAP THE EXPERIENCE

Then for each of the phases indicate the actions, thoughts and feelings user
have during their experience. You can separate these different facets of
information with color or shapes, or create separate “swimlanes” for each.

3. ALIGN SUPPORT
Finally, below each of the phases in the resulting grid you’ll indicate how your
product or service supports (or doesn’t support) users in achieving their goals.
You can include features and other touchpoints with your service. You may
also want to map competitor solutions at the bottom as well.

4. MAP THE FUTURE STATE

Be clear that you are starting with the as-is user journey. After that’s
completed, you can use the diagram to map a future state. This can be done
right below the features and support you provide for the current experience.
The benefit of this approach is that it shows before and after, or cause and
effect, all in one place.

Alternatively, you can create a new future state map on separate sheets. Future
state maps typically just have show the main steps of the intended interaction.
Since it doesn’t exist yet, you won’t be able to research thoughts and feelings
during the interaction. However, you can indicate where you’d like to target
reaching users emotionally, for instance.

During-Sprint | Monday 23
 JIM’S PRO TIPS

1. We recommend doing most of steps 1 and 2, above, before the sprint, relying on your user
research to inform the information you include. The team can review your work and flesh it
out if needed.

2. Step 3 -- how your service aligns to the experience -- is a great exercise to do with the
group on the first day of a sprint.

3. Step 4 needs to be done together.

4. Keep it simple and show the user’s interaction with your service. There are other types of
diagrams you can use -- such as a service blueprint or experience map. But don’t get caught
up in labels. A simple chronology with a few rows of information below the phases is all you
need in most cases.

5. Allow some time for exploration and discussion. The map is not a target output of the
sprint, rather a catalyst for conversations. You can refer back to it throughout the sprint and
relate other exercises of the sprint to it. Allow time for the team to absorb and digest the
experience as laid out in the map.

Ask the Experts

Set the stage for gathering relevant and specific information that is currently
distributed asymmetrically across the team and company by inviting the key
experts to explore together the problem space.

‣ Conduct interviews with your sprint team and relevant outside experts.

‣ Between 15 and 30 minutes is ideal.

‣ Inquire about overall vision, operational aspects, available customer

research/known feedback and previous efforts/failures.

‣ Think as a journalist and their frequently used questions: WHO, WHAT,

WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW. Throughout the discussion, keep track of
any updates to the long-term goal, journey map and new questions.

‣ Remind the team to take notes during the interviews.

During-Sprint | Monday 24
 PRO TIPS

Good things happen when you engage people into free-flowing discussions. That’s when you and
your team will experience the first "A-Ha!” and “EUREKA!” moments.

When you interview the outside experts, only ask questions closely related to their expertise.
Each sprint and challenge are unique, so don’t forget that these interviews should be open
conversations between experts and sprint team members. Therefore, use the questions below as a
guide rather than a script – in other words, you may need to improvise along the way!

Stakeholders, PM, Financial, Business Development, Strategy, HR:

‣ What is profitable?

‣ What is sustainable?

‣ How does this vision work for the business and the culture?

‣ How do you make money?

Customer Service, Marketing, Sales, CX, UX:

‣ What is desirable or even delightful?

‣ How do you communicate with your customers?

‣ How do interact with your user?

‣ Who are the users/customers and what are their needs?

Engineering, CTO, Technical:

‣ What is feasible?

‣ What is the team able to deliver?

‣ What are the technical constraints now and in the future?

During-Sprint | Monday 25
 Jim Kalbach

Find Opportunities
Next, look for opportunities. Insight into value creation emerges from the
discussion about the diagram. Highlight some of the following aspects:

‣ User pain points - Find the problem spots in existing experiences. Where
does the user have problems and issues? What’s painful in their current
experiences?

‣ Weaknesses – Look for your points of failure. Where do you perform well
and not so well? How can you better support users? When are their needs
least satisfied?

‣ Barriers to consumption - Consider the things that keep people from

using your offering. What are the missing skills and information they
need? What are the barriers to accessing you solution and getting
started? What are outside barriers, like financial limitations or legal
constraints?

‣ Gaps – Find where no support is offered. What part of the experience are
not addressed? What moments of truth are potentially overlooked?

‣ Redundancies – Seek to uncover duplication of efforts. Where can you

eliminate redundancies? Where can improve the experience by reducing
services?

‣ Competitors – Look at what other providers are doing at each step in the
journey. Where are you underperforming? When do other solutions
provide more satisfying experiences?

During-Sprint | Monday 26
 Try Reversing Industry Assumptions

The history of innovation shows that change comes from breaking the rules.
To help foster a disruptive mindset, identify the prevailing industry
assumptions, or those unwritten rules that define an industry, and then
intentionally break them. The process is simple:

1. IDENTIFY KEY ASSUMPTIONS

To start this exercise, first generate industry assumption statements using
this formula: “Everyone in the <industry or category> knows that
<assumption>…. :

After generating a dozen or two main assumptions, select the 2-4 that are
most prevalent or ripe for changing.

2. OVERTURN EACH ASSUMPTION

Take the assumption and do the opposite. Or try intentionally denying some
aspect of the assumption by simply removing it from the equation.

3. BRAINSTORM SOLUTIONS FOR THE OPPOSITE

Explore possible solutions that invert, deny, or scale the industry assumption
statement. Try forcing the group to do each for the most important
assumptions.

Here are some examples you can share to illustrate the concept:

‣ Everyone in the mop category knows that a mop was a one-time

purchase, until P&G introduced disposable mops with Swiffer.

‣ Everyone in the airline industry knows passenger seats are

pre-assigned, until SouthWest made seat selection first come, first
served.

During-Sprint | Monday 27
 ‣ Everyone in the car rental business knows you have to see the customer,
rent by the day, and complete a lot of paperwork, until ZipCar made it
possible to book online without paper and pay by the hour.

‣ Everyone knows that doctor’s offices treat a wide range of conditions,

until CVS’s Minute Clinics treated a limited number of conditions that
don’t require a doctor to diagnose.

To change the game, you have to first know what game you’re in. This exercise
forces the team to consider doing the opposite of what the rest of the market is
doing. This increases your ability to provide unique, meaningful innovation
and value.

“How Might We …” Notes (HMW):

HMW notes provide a handy method of capturing, organizing and prioritizing the
information generated from the expert interviews.

‣ Make sure the team understands the idea of HMW Notes. Take the known
problems and reposition them as opportunities. PERSPECTIVE: Our glass is
half full, not half empty.

‣ Write “HMW” in the top left corner of the whiteboard. Write down idea each
on sticky notes until you have a decent stack.

During-Sprint | Monday 28
 PRO TIPS

1. As Facilitator you must ensure that team members understand all of the instructions. For
example, sometimes people capture notes from the interviews in their notebooks or one
piece of paper instead of the sticky-note approach.

2. Do a short role-play and fill in a HMW note, rephrasing a statement into a question so they
see exactly how a HMW sticky looks like.

3. People are not wired to think in HMWs. When you ask the team to perform multiple tasks
simultaneously (to pay attention to the interviews, take notes, convert ideas into questions)
you can’t expect a valuable output. Here’s how to facilitate this exercise:

‣ Encourage the team to take notes as they would normally do, keeping it to one idea
per stick

‣ After the interviews ended, give the team 10 minutes to come up with opportunities,
pains and things that work based on the notes they took

‣ Cluster them

‣ Finally, based on these have the team ideate in the form of HMWs. Now, because
you already have opportunities and pains identified it will be much easier for people
to come up with HMWs and the whole exercise becomes more effective.

Pick a Target
You’ll need to focus your sprint on a specific challenge/problem. That is, think
where is the biggest opportunity for success?

‣ In your interviews, ask the Decider to pick a single targeted customer and a
targeted event on the journey map.

‣ Whatever the Decider says will be the focus for the duration of the sprint. The
team’s sketches, prototype, tests, etc. all will be developed with this in the
forefront.

During-Sprint | Monday 29
 PRO TIPS

1. Now is the time to emphasize how that the Decider’s choices will impact everything going
forward. Help the team imagine the consequences (“We will focus mainly on X, not Y”). Make
sure they are on board with the approach. Consensus is key.

2. Depending on various unknowns or team confusion, the challenge’s complexity or group

dynamics, it’s possible that you won’t complete all of Day 1 activities. Don’t worry! You can
wrap this up first thing Tuesday morning (see Lightning Demos). It is preferable to do that
versus keeping them late on Monday as most likely they are exhausted and won’t produce
valuable outcomes.

3. Remind the team about the long-term goal and sprint questions. PERSPECTIVE.

4. Help the Decider pick a specific step by mapping the customer’s insights (Words, Thoughts,
Feelings and Behaviors) on their journey map.

5. Map the “most voted" HMW notes on the map as well.

6. This way the Decider will have a visual indicator on where lies the biggest pain or opportunity
– this could ease his/her decision.

Monday Wrap-up

‣ Revisit the long-term goal (and update it if needed)

‣ Recap the team’s goals for the day and their outcomes

Your "extra-curricular” sprint activities:

‣ Take photos of all the artifacts in the room: Long-term goal, Sprint Questions,
Customer Journey Map, HMW notes, etc.

‣ Upload everything to the cloud. Organize folders by each day of the sprint.

‣ Email your team a short recap of the day with the next Daily Agenda.

During-Sprint | Monday 30
 ‣ Plan to identify and recruit test users (if you didn’t do it pre-sprint). Check with
your sprint team first and ask for recommendations. Check your network or other
social channels like LinkedIn, Meet-up, Twitter.

‣ Write a screener survey. Use TypeForm or SurveyMonkey forms to screen your

target customers; offer some kind of compensation for their time.

‣ Reflect on the day that passed and start documenting the process and outcomes
while it is fresh in your head! Trust us on this one.

During-Sprint | Monday 31
 Tuesday

Diverge: Create individual solutions to the

original design challenge

32
 Your Goal: Team Outcomes:

Guide team members to come up ✓ Lightning Demos

with individual solution sketches. ✓ Solution Sketches

Kick off

‣ Recap the previous day activities and outcomes

‣ Make sure the team is aligned and ready to move forward

‣ Present Daily Agenda

Lightning Demos
Tuesday is about everyone using their own creativity and imagination to best solve
the design challenge.

The best solutions are not created in a vacuum so it’s important to start the day
with inspiration. This will add some PERSPECTIVE. Food for thought, let’s say.
Thus:

‣ Consider and list robust solutions out there from a range of companies and
industries. Encourage team members to also look at their own organization.

‣ Limit each demo to three minutes. That’s goes fast. Put the best ideas on the
whiteboard with a quick sketch.

During-Sprint | Tuesday 33
 The 4-Step Sketch
‣ Provide directions for the four steps and make sure each person participates.
Gather finished sketches in a pile for tomorrow.

‣ Walk around the room quietly observing and taking notes.

‣ From those observations, mark some ideas with the most promise.

‣ “Crazy 8” visual: Fold one sheet of paper so it has eight frames. Sketch a
variation of one of your best ideas in each frame but only spend a minute doing
each one.

‣ Solution Sketch: Allow 30 to 90 minutes. Make a storyboard with three panels –

use three sticky notes on a piece of paper. This should be done anonymously and
be self-explanatory, if possible. Aesthetics aren’t important here, but words are!

PRO TIPS

1. Warm-up before sketching. Some people might not feel comfortable with their drawing
abilities so encourage them through quick games like:

‣ The 30 Circles:
https://hbr.org/2013/11/three-creativity-challenges-from-ideos-leaders

‣ Squiggle Birds: http://gamestorming.com/squiggle-birds/

2. Remind the team about their long-term goal, sprint questions and target just before
sketching.

3. Offer different examples of sketches from other sprints for PERSPECTIVE:

‣ Mobile apps

‣ Web apps platforms

‣ Services

‣ Physical products

During-Sprint | Tuesday 34
 5. Provide the team with different types of templates to help with the sketching.

6. Emphasize how critical this phase is and how it fuels the rest of the sprint. Ask everyone to
work at their own pace and take short breaks whenever needed. Ask for permission to play
some deep focus music.

7. To make sure they put extra effort and thought into sketching, tell them solutions will be
reviewed the next day without having a chance to first present, so they need to make sense
on their own without explanations.

Your "extra-curricular” sprint activities:

‣ Take pictures of Lightning Demos illustrations and all solutions.

‣ Upload everything to Tuesday‘s folder in the cloud.

‣ Email your team a short recap of today and tomorrow’s agenda.

‣ Review the customer applications and start scheduling interviews for Friday.

‣ Reflect on the day that passed and start documenting the process and outcomes.

During-Sprint | Tuesday 35
 Wednesday

Decide: deliberate and focus

36
 Your Goal: Team Outcomes:

Guide the team to come up with a ✓ Storyboard

solid storyboard ✓ Voted Solutions

Kick off

‣ Recap the previous 2 days

‣ Check with the team if everything is still on track

‣ Present Daily Agenda

Sticky Decision

You need to help your team decide on what solutions to prototype by following an
efficient script.

‣ Tape the solution sketches to the wall in one long row, as if paintings at an
art museum.

‣ Ask each participant to silently review the sketches. If they put one, two or
three small stickers (dots) by each part they like, you’ll have a heat map.

‣ Have the group discuss the pros/cons to each solution. Note the strongest
ideas and legitimate downsides. Afterward, ask the sketcher if the group
missed any key points.

‣ As in politics, take a “Straw Poll.” This is where each person choses a favorite
and keeps it to themselves. After each makes a choice, the group
simultaneously sticks one dot to “vote” on their pick (these are non-binding
but great for consensus and discussion).

During-Sprint | Wednesday 37
 PRO TIPS

Determining the best solution might not be as easy at it seems. One easy way to evaluate the most
voted solutions are with the help of the "NUF" test in which team members score each solution
on a scale from 0-10:

‣ New: Has the idea been tried before?

‣ Useful: Does the idea actually solve the problem?

‣ Feasible: Can the idea be implemented?

During-Sprint | Wednesday 38
 PRO TIPS

It is vital to have both team members and the Decider justify why they made the choices they did.
Make it clear that Decider’s choice is the only one that matters. If side discussions start
happening during this time let them go for a bit, it is very important that everyone knows the
rationale behind Decider's decision as team cohesion is critical for the next steps: Storyboarding
and Prototyping.

1. Be aware that at this stage people’s feelings might be hurt when their solution sketch isn’t
selected. Their frustration might cause difficulties in the group dynamic such as:

‣ Lack of involvement in future steps

‣ Conflict among the team members

‣ Frequent opposing attitude

‣ Deviations from staying on track

2. Prevent the appearance of frustration and maintain an open, positive work environment:
‣ Thank everyone for their effort up until this point

‣ Congratulate everyone on coming up with such creative solutions

‣ Reassure the team that ideas with fewer votes won’t be thrown out, but rather, used
to fill in the gaps in the storyboard

3. Foster an atmosphere of cooperation and stop any signs of competition or animosity (it is
not about whose idea was chosen, but about team effort)

4. Be empathetic with the ones whose sketches were not chosen:

‣ Pay special attention to them including their nonverbal behavior

‣ Get them back on track and make sure they are still participating

During-Sprint | Wednesday 39
 Storyboard

‣ In order to make your prototype, you need to do a storyboard.

‣ Start by drawing a grid. Think “Tic-Tac-Toe” – make 15 squares on a whiteboard.

‣ Storyboards begin with an opening “scene.” Think how customers typically come
across your product/service. Keep it simple: Are they finding it through search
engines, media articles, in-store?

‣ Complete storyboard, adding sketches as you can. Draw when you can’t.

‣ Include just enough to aid the team prototype on Thursday. If in doubt, take some
risks. Story should be done in no more than 15 steps, preferably fewer.

‣ Separate "winners” from the other sketches by moving them to another wall so
that the team stays focused.

‣ Take down all the points you’ll need to learn from user testing. Later, this helps
you define the number of screens or frames needed for the storyboard.

PRO TIPS

1. Don’t be surprised if during the first hour the team does not make great progress with the
storyboard. People tend to go off on tangents, especially if more solutions were voted, and
they try to piece together a flow.

2. To help them stay on track, label all of the screens so that they have a clear picture of the
entire journey. Describe it out loud. Then go screen by screen, time boxing the time spent on
each one.

3. Make sure the team includes enough detail so that they can start prototyping next day. It‘s a
good idea to start discussing prototyping tasks as you’re going through each step.

4. By Wednesday afternoon the team is quite tired, and they might rush through the storyboard
as they think they nailed it. But more likely than not, you will spend Thursday morning
redoing the storyboard instead of starting to prototype.

During-Sprint | Wednesday 40
 5. Storyboarding is the phase where most discussions tend to happen, often becoming
arguments. Keep the team on track by reminding them what’s been voted and that they
should not come up with new solutions. Also, point out what needs to be tested and the sprint
questions that need answering – build just enough to accomplish that. Don’t get caught up in
creating an overly complex storyboard trying to cover all possible user scenarios.

6. At the end of the day, summarize the storyboard out loud, calling out any gaps that still exist
and address them with the team (either fix on the spot or defer to Thursday).

How to stop never-ending discussions:

Synthesize alternatives that were discussed and make the team decide what to do.

Explain that not making a decision because of loop-like discussions is worse than
making a flawed decision.

Ask the Decider to make a decision.

If the team doesn’t reach consensus and can’t choose between two ideas, advise them to
prototype and test both. After all, the end user will be able to validate which ideas are
good or not.

Sometimes, in order to bring clarity, you need to spell out the pros/cons on the
whiteboard.

If it’s out of scope, just park it (make sure you acknowledge everyone’s opinion and be
polite while parking it).

Decide and move on!

During-Sprint | Wednesday 41
 Your "extra-curricular” sprint activities:

‣ Set up a communication channel for your team (use the team internal
communication tool of choice, e.g. Slack or Skype).

‣ Set up a folder in the cloud where the team can upload and share assets, notes and
scripts.

‣ Review the customer applications and start scheduling interviews for Friday.

‣ Take pictures of the storyboard (each screen) and upload to cloud.

‣ Reflect on the day that passed and start documenting the process and outcomes.
Keep in in PERSPECTIVE.

During-Sprint | Wednesday 42
 Thursday

Prototype: create a tangible deliverable (wireframe,

mockups, video, role play, physical product, etc.)

43
 Your Goal: Team Outcomes:

Build a prototype that looks real ✓ Prototype

enough to the testers so that it
triggers reactions rather than just
feedback.

Kick off

‣ Present the Daily Agenda and emphasize the team‘s goal for the day is to build a
working prototype.

‣ Recap the previous 3 days' activities and review the storyboard. What was crystal
clear yesterday might look different today. The team will need some time to
clarify questions related to the storyboard.

Prototype

‣ Toolbox – Get out of your comfort zone and choose the right tools, ones that are
rougher, faster, more flexible. Think knife vs. scissors.

‣ Role playing – assign the various key duties: Maker, Stitcher, Writer, Asset
Collector and Interviewer.

‣ Puzzle time – piece it together. With many moving parts, it’s easy to lose sight of
the big picture. The Stitcher is the quality control checker, making sure it all
makes sense together.

‣ Take it for a spin – give the prototype a trial run. Look for errors, gaps. The
Interviewer and the Decider also must see this.

‣ Call it a wrap -- finish the prototype.

‣ At the end of the day, present to the team who will be the target customers. Let
them know when they are scheduled for interviews (write down the interview
schedule).

During-Sprint | Thursday 44
 PRO TIPS

1. Share the drive folder and communication channel with the team so that they can easily
share their assets.

2. Print all the roles and their requirements and ask for volunteers. If people are not ready to
volunteer, then simply assign them based on their actual job titles and individual strengths:

‣ Maker - typically Designers or/and Developers

‣ Stitcher - typically Project Managers, Team Leads, CTO, CEO, Scrum Masters

‣ Writer - typically Marketers, Sales, Business Development

‣ Interviewer - typically UX Researchers, HR people, Customer Relations reps

‣ Asset Collector - anyone

3. Make sure the team doesn’t go for new tools and write on the whiteboard all the tools in
relation to their storyboard frames.

4. The Stitcher is your ally. Help the Stitcher write down Roles, Tools, Tasks and Deadlines for
every frame and also to monitor the implementation process.

5. Announce to the team that you’re going to interrupt them for hourly check-ins.

6. Write the trial run hour on the whiteboard and highlight it.

7. Set an alarm to ring for every frame deadline.

Train the Interviewer

Train the Interviewer on how to conduct the 5-Act interview by explaining the
mechanics behind it with:

‣ Theory - the 5-Act Interview

‣ Showing a demo

‣ Providing best advices from the UX research leaders

During-Sprint | Thursday 45
 PRO TIPS

1. Offer advice on writing the interview script.

2. After your feedback, do a trial run and play the role of customer. Focus on yourself and keep
in mind the following questions:

‣ Did you feel relaxed and comfortable?

‣ Did you feel you could trust her/him?

‣ Were you able to empathize with her/him and relate to the topic discussed?

‣ Were you engaged in the conversation?

‣ Did you understand what is required from you?

‣ Did you answer questions with Yes/No?

‣ When the interviewer described the prototype, did you hear adjectives like “better,”
“nicer,” “improved,” “innovative,” “more efficient,” “cost efficient”, “newest,”
etc.?

i YouTube Resources:
From ‘Sprint’: The Five-Act Interview , Jake Knapp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9ZG19XTbd4

How to ask a question: conducting research for your startup, Tomer Sharon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tiuWYs5Z-A

How to do a user interview (from Google Ventures updated), Jake Knapp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq3OiHQ-HCU

During-Sprint | Thursday 46
 Your "extra-curricular” sprint activities:

‣ Congratulate the team on their hard work for finishing a prototype in 1 day.

‣ Remind the team to arrive 15 minutes before the first interview so that they can
receive instructions.

‣ Set up the interview room (2 chairs or a couch, a table, comfortable and quiet
room).

‣ Test the live broadcasting setup (sound, image, WiFi) and find alternatives if not
working.

‣ Reconfirm all interviews scheduled for tomorrow by sending friendly reminder

notes.

‣ Make sure you get two 6-packs of beer for tomorrow to celebrate.

‣ Reflect on the day that passed and start documenting the process and outcomes.

During-Sprint | Thursday 47
 Friday

Validate: determine if your hypothesis and

assumptions are true

48
 Your Goal: Team Outcomes:

Capture reactions from target ✓ User Interviews Results

customers and discover patterns.

Kick off

‣ Present the Daily Agenda

‣ Explain how observation session works and make sure the team is taking notes

Test

‣ Get to 5 – Typically it takes five customer interviews for notable patterns to

emerge. Do all five interviews today.

‣ All together now -- Don’t separate the sprint team. By watching the interviews
together, you will be more cohesive and reach more insightful conclusions.

‣ Learning, winning – The prototype could be efficient but a failure. It also could be
successful but flawed. No matter, the important thing is to learn from it and take
that knowledge onto the next step.

‣ Observing Interviews:

‣ Prior to First Interview – On the whiteboard, draw a grid, creating one column for
each customer. Then add a row for each prototype/section of each prototype.

‣ During the Interviews, be like reporters – Pass around markers and sticky notes.
Watch and take notes simultaneously. Write down direct quotes, observations and
interpretations.

During-Sprint | Friday 49
 PRO TIPS

1. During the user testing instruct your team to capture answers to questions such as:

‣ What is their background?

‣ What is their current situation? (challenges, behaviors, mindset, feelings)

‣ What do they like?

‣ What do they dislike or what concerns do they express?

‣ What questions do they ask?

‣ What is their understanding of the prototype?

‣ What are their expectations or desires?

2. Be mindful of the fact that the team will feel more relaxed today and won’t be willing to put
in the effort to listen carefully.

3. Remind the team members who are not taking notes to do so, even during the interviews.

Capture Results

After each interview, don’t permit a

break until all team members place
their sticky notes in the corresponding
quadrants from the grid below and
remove the duplicates.

At the end of all interviews, take

pictures of all flip charts with their
answers.

During-Sprint | Friday 50
 PRO TIPS

1. Ask different team members to read the sticky notes out loud while you start writing
patterns on a different whiteboard.

2. Add a “/” every time the same pattern is discovered by the third, fourth and fifth user.

3. Remember to add the symbols for Likes, Dislikes and Questions next to the patterns
discovered.

4. Review your sprint goal and sprint questions and determine the answer to each of them:

‣ Yes, by…

‣ Partially, ...

‣ No, maybe …

5. Be mindful of the fact that the team will feel more relaxed today and won’t be willing to put
in the effort to listen carefully.

6. Allow a brief discussion about next steps and ask the Decider on how to follow up from here.

During-Sprint | Friday 51
 Your "extra-curricular” sprint activities:

‣ Congratulate the team for making it to the finish line! Beer is the best closure
activity.

‣ Send a thank-you email to all participants early Monday and let them know that a
full report of their sprint week is on the way.

‣ Synthesize the interviews results in an comprehensive but digestible format.

‣ Send the document to the team to revise it and provide feedback, if needed.

During-Sprint | Friday 52
 3
Design Sprint
Master Role
 Intro

What does a Design Sprint Master do?

‣ Manages group dynamics & facilitates conversation

‣ Manages time & facilitates process

‣ Documents the progress and outcomes

What makes a good Design Sprint Master?

‣ The ability to guide the team in an effective way by fostering and reinforcing a
positive mindset by listening and empowering each team member to bring their
contribution to the final outcome

‣ The ability to be impartial and not bias the team with personal opinions

‣ The ability to monitor progress continually and keep track of time

What skills are needed?

‣ Communication / Listening

‣ Leadership

‣ Empathy

‣ Business / Strategy

‣ Planning

Design Sprint Master Role | Intro 54

 i How to quickly become a Design Sprint Facilitator?

‣ Gain the knowledge and insights on how to set the stage for a successful
sprint

‣ Experience at least one Design Sprint to gain the participant’s perspective

and immerse yourself in the creative problem solving method

‣ Get professional training in the Design Sprint ground rules and mindsets,
in managing group dynamics, dealing with conflicts and disruptors

Design Sprint Master Role | Intro 55

 Team Effectiveness

While the first three chapters led you step-by-step into your technical
responsibilities as a Design Sprint Facilitator, and gave you numerous specific
solutions on how to execute Pre-Sprint to Post-Sprint activities, now it’s time to
discuss team effectiveness. This is the “glue” that holds everything together AND
your role as a facilitator in building it.

Those beginning chapters taught you WHAT to do as a Design Sprint Facilitator. The
current chapter will focus on the HOW. Not paying attention to this dimension is
one of the biggest traps that you can fall into and, unfortunately, this happens quite
often with new facilitators who are usually very focused on the sprint activities
themselves and less on what happens within the team.

Experience has shown that most of the sprints that fail do so not because the
facilitator didn’t know exactly what to do in each activity of the sprint, but because
they were unable to keep the team motivated from one stage to the next.

A skilled facilitator will lead the team to effective solutions and create engagement
at the same time. Only one of those two characteristics is not enough for team
effectiveness. Leading the team towards qualitative solutions from one sprint
activity to another will not help you move forward if the team is conflicted or
members lose motivation. On the other hand, focusing only on a good group
dynamic, positive relationships and high-level of acceptance among members will
help you get through the sprint but with no added value – and likely with poor
solutions and outcomes.

Design Sprint Master Role | Team Effectiveness 56

 Team effectiveness = Quality Solutions x Acceptance2

Team Effectiveness

Quality Solutions Acceptance

Rational Process Interpersonal Process

To lead to effective solutions and create engagement

Rational Skills and Interpersonal Skills and

Processes: Processes:

‣ Defining the challenge ‣ Active listening

‣ Setting the right end goals ‣ Support and encouragement

‣ Asking the right questions ‣ Mediating conflicts

‣ Considering alternatives ‣ Optimism and enthusiasm

‣ Discussing consequences ‣ Friendliness and

cooperation
‣ Encouraging creative
solutions ‣ Striving for consensus

Later, we will walk you through our main tips and tricks on how to build and
maintain team effectiveness.

Broadening your perspective on how successful teams work, developing your skills
on active listening, assertiveness and empathy, as well as understanding different
personalities you may encounter in your sprint, all will help you display strong
leadership skills in managing difficult and unforeseen situations.

2 Human Synergistics International, Research & Development by Robert A. Cooke Ph. D and J.Clayton Lafferty Ph. D

Design Sprint Master Role | Team Effectiveness 57

 Foster a positive group mindset

… by understanding that “Happy teams

are more creative!”

Joy, happiness or any other positive state will cause a better accomplishment of the
following activities3:

‣ Start a new project

‣ Think out of the box

‣ Creative problem solving

‣ Understand the bigger perspective

‣ Reach consensus with other team members

An ideal facilitator:
‣ Is a joyful facilitator

‣ His/her positive emotions are contagious

‣ Mirror neurons are the neurological base of empathy and due to their existence
the members of the team will experience the same state as the facilitator

‣ Will wear an actor hat as long as is necessary and fakes it until will become it

How to foster a positive mindset?

‣ Always show confidence in the team and process

‣ Offer lots of positive feedback

‣ Encourage everyone to participate

3 David R. Caruso Peter Salovey, The Emotionally Intelligent Manager - How to Develop and Use the Four Key Emotional Skills of Leadership

Design Sprint Master Role | Foster a positive group mindset 58

 ‣ Tell jokes, make surprises

‣ Be energetic

‣ Enhance the sprint location as much as you can

Design Sprint Master Role | Foster a positive group mindset 59

 Listen Actively

… by fully engaging into the conversation

(with mind, body and words).

Active listening is a mandatory skill for any facilitator and is required in almost all
Design Sprint phases, starting with defining the end goal and going further with
expert interviews, speed critique, elaborating the storyboard and running the
customer interviews.

Here are the three components of Active Listening: Physical – Mental - Verbal

Physical Level - Non-verbal encouragement:

‣ Always face your team

‣ Make a good and balanced eye contact with all participants

‣ Smile and nod for reinforcement

‣ Maintain open body-language: “Hmm… aha, I see”

Mental Level - Focus!

‣ Always face your team

‣ Make a good and balanced eye contact with all participants

‣ Smile and nod for reinforcement

‣ Maintain open body-language: “Hmm… aha, I see”

Design Sprint Master Role | Listen Actively 60

 Verbal Level - Actively listen by using these main verbal techniques:

1. Paraphrasing to reinforce and clarify what is being said:

‣ “Let me see if I understood correctly. What you said was …”

‣ “I heard you saying that …”

‣ “Did I understand correctly that …”

Show 2. Synthesizing to get to the essential and facilitate a decision:

don’t ‣ “What stands out from this idea / sketch / discussion is …”

tell! ‣ “In other words, the main idea is …”

‣ “So, long story short, we have 2 alternatives …”

‣ “The bottom line is … “

One 3. Open-ended questions for clarification:

question ‣ Why do you think that?

at a time! ‣ When are we ready to we move on?

‣ How can we build on this?

‣ What is your opinion?

‣ What stands out from this sketch?

‣ What would you like to add?

Design Sprint Master Role | Listen Actively 61

 Communicate assertively &
empathize

Assertive & Empathetic should describe your attitude as a facilitator during the
entire process. Set limits and be firm but pay attention to other people needs – this
is your role as a facilitator.

Build upon these two abilities in order to successfully manage any difficult
situations that might emerge during a sprint and need further analysis and
resolution.

Assertiveness = the quality of being self-assured and confident without being

aggressive; the ability to say NO and set limits in a diplomatic manner without
offending the other person; the ability of being firm by showing empathy at the
same time.

Empathy = understanding of other people’s emotions, needs and concerns. The

essence of empathy is to perceive the emotions of others without words.

YOUR NEEDS OTHERS’ NEEDS

AGGRESSIVE PASSIVE

ASSERTIVE

Emotional Empathy: “I feel together with you.”

Rational Empathy: “I understand your reasons and needs.”

Design Sprint Master Role | Communicate assertively & empathize 62

 While Emotional Empathy is a matter of chemistry and it is hard to control – some
of us are better at it than others – rational empathy requires effort to observe and
become familiar with the different needs people have depending on their
personalities.

See what is important for them and how can you fill those needs during a Design
Sprint.

1 Personalities on your team4

Develop your rational empathy by understanding human diversity through basic
types of personalities that you might have on your team, the value they can bring
and the way they could become, at some point, difficult participants.

Analytical Autonomous
‣ Analytical Motivation: quality is the most important
‣ Visible Behavior: analyzes all alternatives before going into
action, is cautious, systematic, serious, objective

Directive Assertive
‣ Directive Motivation: results are the most important
‣ Visible Behavior: dynamism, makes fast decisions, action
orientation, wants quick results, takes risks, competitiveness

Flexible Cohesive
‣ Flexible Motivation: flexibility and the team are the most
important
‣ Visible Behavior: has many ideas, spends time within the team,
likes to have fun

4 Strengths Deployment Inventory, Elias Porter Research

Design Sprint Master Role | Communicate assertively & empathize 63

 Altruist Protective
‣ Altruist Motivation: relations are the most important
‣ Visible Behavior: helps others, defends the rights of others, values
relations, mediates conflicts, shows a lot of empathy

They contribute at They become difficult Behavior under stress

their best when participants when

They have space and Their need as working Withdrawn. Does not
time for thinking alone, individuals is not contribute.
in a quite environment. respected.

There is a sense of The group is moving in Oppositional. Creates

urgency in making circles and not making conflicts.
decisions and reaching decisions.
results.

They can exchange There is not enough Rebel. Does not follow
ideas within a team, flexibility, the the rules anymore.
when they can be atmosphere is rigid and
creative and when too serious.
working is combined
with having FUN!

They can help others, There is not enough Withdrawn. Does not
there is space for encouragement within contribute.
authenticity and the group. The
emotions. facilitation is done in an
authoritarian way with
negative feedback.

Design Sprint Master Role | Communicate assertively & empathize 64

 2 Situations in your sprint
Now that you know what type of personalities you can have in your sprint and how
they can create difficult dynamics, let’s take a look into the most typical situations
that you might need to manage:

Deviations

When you notice discussions are going off on a tangent or turning into disputes:

‣ Elegantly bring discussions back to the red line. Be diplomatic.

‣ Check the discussion‘s relevance (for the team / long-term goal / sprint
questions / user biggest pain).

‣ Postpone discussion, if possible, to another Design Sprint phase.

‣ Park discussions that are unrelated to the topic or out of scope.

‣ If you feel the discussion might bring value to the outcome, let it go for a
while, even though the process/timing might get a bit off schedule.

Lack of involvement

When you notice team members becoming disengaged or losing interest:

‣ Offer a “mirror” by giving them feedback.

‣ Search for the root of their behavior and show empathy, regardless of the
reasons.

‣ Facilitate discussions through a series of short, firm and dynamic questions.

‣ Offer positive feedback for their accomplishments up to that point, and

encourage them to move forward.

‣ Use energizers such as short breaks.

‣ Compensate with your own positive energy.

Design Sprint Master Role | Communicate assertively & empathize 65

 Conflict between members

When you notice team members engaging into endless debates:

‣ Listen carefully to both sides and help them find common ground (at least
the level of purpose or intention).Clarifying questions:

‣ What parts of the two sides are complementary or the same?

‣ Where are they on similar turf?

‣ What part of each want (purpose) is the same?

‣ Make a Pro & Cons list for each idea

‣ Ask for the other’s opinion

‣ Bring in the Decider

‣ Minimize the conflict if you notice any personal implications

‣ Change the subject if the success of the sprint does not depend on it

Conflict between Facilitator and 1 participant

‣ Make her your ally

‣ Treat her with respect

‣ Find sincere reasons to offer positive feedback. Use your sense of humor and
joke with her (NOT about her)

‣ Direct her questions or opinions towards the rest of the team

‣ Last call: “Let’s agree to disagree!”

‣ Bring in the Decider

Conflict between Facilitator and the Decider

‣ Involve her in the process prior to the actual sprint

Design Sprint Master Role | Communicate assertively & empathize 66

 ‣ Allow her to feel in control by:

‣ Discussing the agenda

‣ Presenting the steps

‣ Aligning expectations

‣ Asking for feedback during breaks

‣ Be aware that you need her as your ally and try to establish this alliance
before the sprint

Design Sprint Master Role | Communicate assertively & empathize 67

All you need to know about running Design
Sprints successfully

How to choose the right How Design Sprints work

challenge for the sprint in practice

How to become a How to implement Design

top-notch Sprint Master Sprints into your organization

Our Workshops:
+49 (0) 175 1489309
✓ Public Workshops
[email protected]
✓ In-house 5-day Bootcamp www.designsprint.academy