DESIGN SPRINT

Problem + Background

   StrongMind curriculum developers create and maintain online courses and curriculum that can be sold to middle schools and high schools. When a school administrator or curriculum coordinator is shopping for courses and curriculum, they are looking to meet specific requirements and standards established by their state, school district, and personal preferences. Once a course is sold, StrongMind’s curriculum developers, client services, and the client’s account manager will begin a back and forth process between themselves and the client, trying to provide the client with access to the course sold and subsequent updates to the course . This process creates frustration and confusion for all parties involved, increasing the chances of error and potentially providing the client with the wrong course. 

Process

   Former Senior Product Manager, Alicia Fremling, presented these issues and asked the research team to address this problem. After gathering research, we recognized this problem was larger and more interconnected than expected, so we recommended approaching problem directly in a 5-day design sprint. A cross-functional team of six StrongMind employees was thoughtfully formed, with each team member providing a unique perspective to address the problem. 

   As the sprint Facilitator, I was in charge of guiding the team through every step of the process, managing time and conversations, and planning and organizing the sprint activities. Preparing for the sprint involved acquiring an in-depth understanding of the design sprint process, gathering materials, recruiting a sprint team, creating clear and concise presentations of activities, creating strict daily agendas, and scheduling expert interviews and user testing interviews (both in-person and remote). The Facilitator’s main objective is to guide the team through this process by provoking critical thinking and providing a clear understanding of the sprint’s activities and purposes. A lot of the activities are simple techniques and practices to facilitate critical thinking but are not simply conducted without a facilitator asking questions and pushing the team to ponder. Some of the activities include, note-n-map, lightning demos, four-step sketch, and storyboarding. 

Objectives

• Guide the team through a 5-day design sprint

• Create a clear understanding of the sprint activities and its purpose 

• Asks questions to facilitate ideas and critical thinking

• Identify key questions and long-term goal

• Sketch possible solutions 

• Decide on one solution

• Build and test a prototype