The concept of designing an entire product in less than a week is easily a dismissible as ridiculous however, this is not such a bad idea. This method is called a ‘design sprint’ which is essentially a process where you lock up a team of designers in a room and let the creative juices flow. The benefits of this process can be seen through the resulting designs which are more functional, customer-friendly and viable for your clients needs thus mitigating the risks of developing a bad idea, saving time you and poor investment (Pixel Fusion, 2019).
My first encounter with this method was during a university design workshop. A sprint to design the ideal wallet (Fitzwalter, 2020). Working in pairs over the next two hours we would create the perfect design for one another's needs.
The interview:
We began with a simple interview to get to know one another. Through this, I discovered that my client had outgrown his old, green wallet and also was a minimalist, keen environmentalist with a soft spot for anything Scandinavian chic.
The next phase was to ‘Dig Deeper’ and find out what the clients truly valued in wallet design. My client's wallet seemed to function okay however there was wasted space as he only used cards. He wished to prioritise a small and practical design as he mainly kept his wallet in his back pocket where it was in easy reach, especially to tag on and off as a frequent public transport user.
Reframe the problem:
During the next six minutes, we were told to re-evaluated the problem through the insights we had gained. Reflecting on my interviews I noticed that he enjoyed fidgeting with his wallet and playing with its straps. Thus I decided my design not only needed to be minimalist and have lowenvironmental impact but also must be fidget friendly.
Ideate:
I drew several ideas with annotations and developed a single-pocket adhesive design to be used in different scenarios. After gaining feedback from the client we settled on a fusion of a wallet and phone case, allowing him to have easy access to cards and not create excess bulk while he was carrying both his phone and wallet in his pockets.
Image: Wallet prototype by Clara Schroeder
Development:
It was now time to flesh out our idea and take on constructive feedback to create a design using both previous and new ideas.
Prototyping:
Using arts and crafts materials I built a beta-prototype. My design was a sleek phone case made from biodegradable materials which featured a slot pocket and a small buttoned pouch to fulfil the fidgeting requirement.
Reflecting on the design sprint, it not only tested my creativity but also developed my listening skills when getting feedback. I found the constant iterations made a key difference in the outcome of the design. This illustrated the importance of involving the client in every step of the design process to achieve the best result rather than ploughing ahead with an idea already set in stone.
Works Cited:
Fitzwalter, Z. (2020, March 13). Des100 Week 2 Workshop. Des100. Auckland, New Zealand: The University Of Auckland.
Pixel Fusion. (2019). How to do a design sprint. Retrieved from Pixel Fusion: https://pixelfusion.co.nz/blog/how-to-do-a-design-sprint
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