Workshops and design thinking methods

Google ventures design sprint, modified.

I have worked with companies small and large to organize design thinking workshops and events. The goals of these workshops is to work in small groups to source ideas, solutions, problem statements, and prioritize work.

A case study and review of a 3 Day Condensed Design Sprint

The Schedule

Monday - Map and Targeting - Concept, Competitors, Painpoints

Tuesday - Solution Sketches - Research Big Questions, Start Solution Sketches

Wednesday - Storyboard and Decide Review Sketches, Discuss Solutions

Thursday - Prototype Build Out Write down Assumptions, Voting, Build Out

Friday- Research Interview and Learn Synthesize and Share Learnings

The Approach

Flexibility and Agility to Quickly Test New Products
Competitive Pricing
Larger Catalog
Reduced Costs and Risk for Inventory Buying and Planning

Source concepts and alignment

Facilitating short time-restricted exercises focused on problem statements and concept solutions can help us see common themes from the customer’s viewpoint. Workshopping problems can shed light on a shared issue and give way to proposed areas of improvement. The less familiar folks are with sketching and designing, the better this works!

Prioritize work and initiatives

Prioritizing backlogs of work, aligning on major initiatives, and gaining insights into different leader’s perspectives within the larger picture is a group exercise that can yield a short list of top priority items.

The Challenge

Design a Trusted, Seamless, Branded Marketplace Experience for Online Shoppers at Urban Outfitters

The final deliverable had to be achievable within the next 2 quarters.

Urban Outfitters had a program plan in development, and it was established that a premier skateboard retailer would be the first partner.

My Role

Facilitate the design thinking workshop, exercises, and present outputs.

I worked as the lead on the shopper experience design, and, as facilitator and organizer in this project. I led the team in their concepts, strategy, and deliverables for the Product Detail Page and Seller Detail Page.

I provided oversight and coordination. I mapped out user journeys, summarized our exercise findings, guided scope and designs, and worked to present our concepts and designs up to stakeholders.

My main output was going out and getting the answers and assumptions to big questions.

The Team

4 Executive Stakeholders

3 Engineers

10 Designers

3 Product Researchers

6 Product Managers

What We Uncovered

Big Questions, A User Journey, and Key Areas of Focus

Knowing what our customers journey was, and being aware of competitors and their strengths helped us position ourselves as a unique solution that would satisfy the customer expectation.

Crafting a user journey helped the team focus in on key areas of the shopping journey. This identified areas that we could then break down teams and problems, and frame our solutions and goals for the rest of the sprint.