The Ultimate Guide to Facilitating Design Sprints Like a Boss
Tips and tricks for running a smooth, successful workshop
Published in
6 min readOct 6, 2019
Design sprints are all the rage but they need great facilitators. Sometimes that responsibility falls to you.
This is a difficult role, made harder when the participants have never done this before. It can be daunting to run your first (or fiftieth) workshop, but some good prep and getting into a good headspace can make all the difference.
Before we dive in: Design sprints aren’t magic. They’re just a framework for assembling a handful of classic design-thinking (read: problem-solving) techniques. And while they don’t solve every problem, when used efficiently they can help you get a lot done in a short amount of time.
If you work in technology and you’re unaware of design sprints or design thinking, let me help you out from under that rock.
- “How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Design Thinking” is an excellent primer by Christina Wodtke on what “design thinking” really is and why it’s so powerful.
- Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days from the Google Ventures team is the text everyone recommends. You’ll find some good case studies and a structure in here.
