{"id":935,"date":"2020-10-02T13:51:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T04:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdg.neuromagic.com\/?p=935"},"modified":"2022-01-27T17:21:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T08:21:04","slug":"what-makes-the-service-design-sprint-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sdg.neuromagic.com\/en\/what-makes-the-service-design-sprint-different\/","title":{"rendered":"Service Design Sprints vs. Product (GV) Design Sprints — What’s the Difference?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The phrase \u201cDesign Sprint\u201d has been trending for years, especially since American Designer and former Google Ventures design partner, Jake Knapp<\/a>, published his book Sprint<\/a> <\/em>in 2016. But what exactly is a Sprint? Well, in his own words: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sprints offer a path to solve big problems, test new ideas,
get more done, and do it faster.<\/p>– Jake Knapp<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Design Sprint, as prescribed by Jake Knapp and Google Ventures (also known as the GV Sprint<\/em>) is a five-day time-boxed structure that can be used to rapidly ideate, build, and test a prototype of a product, to avoid the usually elongated and unproductive process leading up to an initial launch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Neuromagic, we call the GV Sprint by another name: The Product <\/em>Design Sprint. We make this important differentiation because there is also another kind of Design Sprint: The Service <\/em>Design Sprint. Though these two methodologies can be confused, there are several fundamental differences between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Service Design Sprint was introduced by co-founder and former CEO of the Latin American branch of Livework<\/a>, Tenny Pinheiro (one of our own service designers, Felipe Pontes actually co-authored his book Design Thinking Brasil<\/em><\/a> <\/em>in 2012). Unlike the GV Sprint, the Service Design Sprint focuses on basic elements of service design, which require thinking holistically, outside of a single product or user; from the production team, to the service delivery team, to the user, even reaching the users friends and family\u2014 the entire <\/em>service ecosystem<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to better understand both the Product Design Sprint and the Service Design Sprint, let\u2019s take a look at their similarities and differences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s the Same<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Time-Boxing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The most basic advantage of a Sprint\u2014 whether focusing on services or products\u2014 is being able to ideate and prototype within a short amount of time<\/em>. So, all Sprint activities rely on the time-boxing of activities. This helps to manage expectations, and puts pressure on participants to get their ideas out as quickly as possible instead of endlessly wondering whether they are good enough to execute. The best ideas can sometimes be the ones we are most doubtful about sharing!<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prototyping<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Students
Prototyping a service at Yokosuka Highschool with Neuromagic. <\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Again, this relates to the intended speed of a Sprint. Though the style of prototype might differ for products and services, both GV and Service Design sprints should end with a prototype. By making a quick, usable model of a solution, the team can gain a clearer understanding of their goal, while securing a specific, agreed-upon image in all stakeholders mind before beginning proper development<\/mark>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, Alone<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Both Sprint styles encourage individual ideation followed by convergence with other team members to discuss, compare ideas, and make decisions. This is one of the key elements to successful ideation. When participants work together all the time with no individual ideation, conversations can be taken over by the loudest voice in the room, and great ideas can get lost in the mix.<\/mark> By working individually first, we ensure that everyone\u2019s ideas are accounted for, and end up with more unique solutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voting and Decision Maker<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Both the Service Design Sprint and GV Design Sprint involve sticker dot voting. It is an easy way to align your team while being democratic in the decision-making process. <\/mark>We find it is especially helpful to visualize opinions through the heat map that naturally arises out of the sticker voting process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s Different<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Team Composition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The GV Sprint requires a team of experts from a variety of different fields. For example, in the development of an app feature, your team might need a UX Designer, UI Designer, Graphic Designer, Marketer, company CEO, HR person\u2014 each to provide expertise in their field. On the other hand, a Service Design Sprint team can be composed in a variety of different ways. Certainly, it can also be composed of a group of experts, but it could also be composed of members from the same company, or even the same department, depending on the issue at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviews and User Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"An<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Service Design in general (not only in Sprints) has a strong emphasis on user research, and particularly on the usage of qualitative, rather than quantitative data. The GV Sprint does not need to have a heavy emphasis on research, because its main goal is the rapid production and testing of a prototype<\/em>\u2014 if the prototype doesn\u2019t work, the team can just build another one to test the next time they have a Sprint.<\/mark> For more information on user research in service design, check out our blog post You Do the Research– Meet Your User!<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GV Sprint does not need to have a heavy emphasis on research, because its main goal is the rapid production and testing of a prototype<\/em>\u2014 if the prototype doesn\u2019t work, the team can just build another one to test the next time they have a Sprint.<\/p>