the prototype thinking sprint
Work directly with our expert team to design, test, and revise solutions dozens of times through live user experiments.
sprint options
THE DEEP DIVE
3 days
Kick off a new project or jumpstart an existing project by finding a transformative solution.
Identify the right way to think about the solution and the most important features. Leave with broad specs and a concrete testing plan for more detailed design elements.
great for
brand new projects, many different direction options
THE FOCUS
1 day
Open a smaller project or explore an idea with a cycle of testing and iteration with real users.
Leave with assumptions broken, insights gained, and confidence about whether the idea is worth continuing to pursue. Plus, get a thorough introduction to the Prototype Thinking method.
great for
early exploration, lots of ideas, inexperienced / new teams, highly efficient teams
STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION
1-2 days
Solve a challenge in a project involving a lot of moving pieces and complex potential partnership or collaborative interactions.
Use rapid iteration among stakeholders to iteratively put together a solution that works for everyone— in hours, not months. Truly.
great for
partnerships, stakeholder / executive engagement, internal initiatives, vendor collaboration, complex b2b solutions, healthcare, nonprofits, community engagement, donor engagement
THE COMPLETE PROJECT
1-3 months
Work heads-down with our team to use a Prototype Thinking approach on a complete project end-to-end using custom sprints, workshops, and experiments.
At the end, your team will be utter pros, and we’ll be available for questions over following year.
great for
brand new innovation teams looking for a workflow, teams that want to adjust their process, projects that are high-stakes, under-resourced, or on a tight deadline.
about the sprint
WHAT
The Prototype Thinking Iteration Sprint is an accelerated design & testing process for going from the point where there are many uncertainties and possible solution directions, to the point where there is a clear and validated solution with an outline of high-level specifications.
During the Sprint, participants will make dozens of key pivots and iterations to one or more designs by repeated direct experimentation with live users. They will synthesize the data and generate new ideas from it, until a clear solution direction converges.
After doing a Sprint with Prototype Thinking Labs, participants will be trained and ready to continue using the methodology on their own going forward.
WHY
The most critical piece of the design process is actually testing and iteration, but it’s also the piece we most commonly push off or underutilize. However, the best, truest, and most impactful solutions come not from the initial brainstorming, but from making revisions based on genuine experience with users.
Prototype Thinking rethinks the design process by centering everything else around iteration. In the Iteration Sprint, we do front-and-center live testing and immediate revision on the first day, and a full design cycle each subsequent day.
This allows us to drastically accelerate our rate of learning, and reach an understanding that would normally take months in a matter of days.
WHEN
The most impactful time to do an Iteration Sprint is after you have a design or project mandate, but before you have a specific design that is ready to move to pilot.
WHO
The most important people in an Iteration Sprint is the product/service design team and about 10-20 live users. Most critically, anybody who makes decisions on the offering should be there.
It helps to have one team member assigned to coordinate with users.
Executive sponsors may wish to visit for all or some of the time.
Expert designers, developers, and prototypers are NOT required: in order to iterate this fast, we will be using prototyping techniques that anybody can (and will) learn.
For a Stakeholder Collaboration Sprint, this gets more complicated! We’ll talk it through with you.
WHERE
The best place to host the Sprint is wherever your users are. Most commonly, this is at a traffic-central offsite location near your office. However, we’ve also traveled nationally and internationally to reach the target audience. When hosting a Sprint, look for a venue that is spacious, airy, and conducive to presence and creativity, with ample breakout space.
