Design lab
From idea to reality
One of the common failures of a software project is the misalignment between customer vision, product strategy, developer understanding, and market research. The solution – Design Sprints.
We are solving real problems for real users.
At Open Vantage we make use of the “Design Sprint” framework, a creative and agile problem-solving methodology. A Design Sprint is the process of answering critical business questions through understanding, ideation, design, prototyping, and testing of these ideas with the correct team. Instead of waiting to launch a minimum viable product to understand if an idea is any good, or pivoting once you have already developed the product, you’ll get clear data from a realistic prototype, to guide your product in the right direction as soon as possible.
Design sprint process
Understand
Let’s start by understanding the problem your idea will solve for its users. The objective is to collect, extrapolate and share as much data as possible to help us understand your business, your processes, and your customers’ needs to ensure we are solving a real problem for real users.
To solve problems means listening and understanding them in their entirety.
Ideate
You may think you have come up with the best solution for your user’s problems, but will it really work? Is it the right option? During the “Ideation” phase the entire team has the opportunity to use their experience, creative thinking and problem solving techniques to come up with as many ideas and potential solutions as possible.
Decide
It’s decision time. By now the team will have a stack of solutions which is great, but they cannot all be prototyped. Each idea needs to be analyzed until the most feasible idea is selected and the core functionality required, to test out the idea as a viable solution, is identified.
Prototype
Where ideas come to life. Your first look at your product. The team has one goal in this phase – to convert the idea into a clickable prototype, one to test with users and customers. Often the longest stage of the sprint and can take various forms, including mockups, sketch designs, animations, online demonstrations, and a prototype. This decision depends on the challenge itself.
Test
Real feedback from real users. At the end of the sprint we get a diverse group of testers, including technical experts, design specialists, and customers, to test-out the prototype and give actionable feedback and ideas. This keeps the product aligned with what your users really need from your product and whether the idea is viable or not.
How do we do this?
