Design Sprint - Wednesday (Decide)

Follow these five steps to choose the strongest solutions :

• Art museum. Tape the solution sketches to the wall in one long row.

• Heat map. Have each person review the sketches silently and put one to three small dot stickers beside every part he or she likes.
  Speed critique. Three minutes per sketch. As a group, discuss the highlights of each solution. Capture standout ideas and important objections. At the end, ask the sketcher if the group missed anything.

• Straw poll. Each person silently chooses a favorite idea. All at once, each person places one large dot sticker to register his or her (nonbinding) vote.

• Supervote. Give the Decider three large dot stickers and write her initials on the sticker. Explain that you'll prototype and test the solutions the Decider chooses.

• Divide winners from "maybe-laters." Move the sketches with supervotes together.

• Rumble or all-in-one. Decide if the winners can fit into one prototype, or if conflicting ideas require two or three competing prototypes in a Rumble.

• Fake brand names. If you're doing a Rumble, use a Note-and-Vote to choose fake brand names. (here)
  Note-and-Vote. Use this technique whenever you need to quickly gather ideas from the group and narrow down to a decision.

  Ask people to write ideas individually, then list them on a whiteboard, vote, and let the Decider pick the winner.

Make a storyboard. Use a storyboard to plan your prototype. (here)

• Draw a grid. About fifteen squares on a whiteboard.

• Choose an opening scene. Think of how customers normally encounter your product or service. Keep your opening scene simple: web search, magazine article, store shelf, etc.

• Fill out the storyboard. Move existing sketches to the storyboard when you can.
  Draw when you can't, but don't write together. Include just enough detail to help the team prototype on Thursday. When in doubt, take risks. The finished story should be five to fifteen steps.

Facilitator Tip :

Don't drain the battery. Each decision takes energy. When tough decisions appear, defer to the Decider. For small decisions, defer until tomorrow. Don't let new abstract ideas sneak in. Work with what you have.