Design sprint, you may ask? Before today's design workshop, I had never come across the foreign term of 'design sprint' either so you are not alone. The concept refers to a five-step process of gaining empathy, reframing the problem, ideating, iterating, and building the prototype to solve problems and issues an individual or society may have (Banfield, Lombardo, & Wax, 2015). By applying these key methods to the task given, we had to design the ideal wallet for our partner (May). It felt rushed and overwhelming, but these emotions helped me to develop a final wallet that May feel in love with.
Firstly, we were given 3 minutes to draw our ideal wallet. Everyone felt a bit flustered and confused by the task given to us . I truly believed that I had just designed my ideal wallet - it was aesthetically pleasing, but more importantly, the wallet was function-able.
After this fury, we were now told that we now had to design the perfect wallet for our partner. The first step was to gaining empathy towards May; this included a short interview as well as a more in-depth interview, which dug deeper into life stories and memories. From this, I gained a broad understanding of what she would want in the ideal wallet. Specifications included easily accessible of her house key, small but efficient, and a pocket for loose change. May also mentioned her dad's leather wallet and how she loved the look of sleek leather. From the knowledge I had gained from the interviewing process I was now able to reframe the problem, 'May needs a way to carry her belongings in an efficient and small manner but yet diverse for all occasions.'
The next step was to ideate, to generate five radical ways to meet May's needs of an ideal wallet. Five minutes was put on the clock, my sketches were rough and very broad, but that allowed me to have multiple designs that I could then later develop with Mays feedback. A few things May disliked was the colour, a circular design, and zips. Not only did the sketches provide me with specific ways to improve my designs, but more importantly, I was later able to bring multiple ideas together to create Mays ideal wallet.
Finally, we had to iterate, to reflect and generate a new solution. By referring back to the interview and integrating May's feedback, I was able to create a wallet that met her needs.
By following the step by step methods of the Design Sprint I was able to solve an issue specific to an individual. May needed a way to carry her belongings efficiently, but it also had to be diverse for all occasions. Through gaining empathy, reframing the problem, ideating, iterating, and prototyping, I was able to solve the needs of an individual. Completing the Design Sprint in 2 hours was mentally challenging; however, this helped me to step out of my comfort zone. Ultimately, May had found her ideal wallet!
Works Cited
Banfield, R., Lombardo, C., & Wax, T. (2015). Design Sprint: A Practical Guidebook for Building Great Digital Products. O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Lo, G. (2020, April 01). What is the Design Sprint and why is it important. Retrieved from UXPlanet: https://uxplanet.org/whats-a-design-sprint-and-why-is-it-important-f7b826651e09
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