The big challenge
Most teams don’t fail because of execution. They fail because they chose the wrong problem to solve.
When we founded Design Sprint Academy in 2017, we saw the same thing happening again and again:
❌ Companies diving into sprints without clarity on the real challenge
❌ Product teams battling competing priorities, unable to align decision-makers
❌ Facilitators struggling to keep conversations focused and people engaged
As world leaders in Design Sprints, we knew that Design Sprints weren’t broken—but the way teams entered them was.
So we built a better way.
We created Problem Framing
—and changed the game
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Instead of treating Design Sprints as a cure-all, we pioneered Problem Framing—a structured approach to aligning teams, eliminating noise, and defining the right challenge before running a sprint or any complex project.
Think of it as a sprint before the sprint—but instead of prototyping a solution, we prototype clarity.
The results?
✔️ Stakeholders align on what matters before the sprint even starts
✔️ Teams avoid costly pivots mid-sprint
✔️ Sprints go from chaotic to focused—and deliver real business impact.
It was so effective in driving alignment and speeding up decision-making that organizations began adopting Problem Framing beyond Design Sprints.
How are we different?
We’re not IDEO.
We don’t spend months on long, exploratory design thinking processes.
We’re not McKinsey or Deloitte either.
We don’t walk into boardrooms with 100-slide decks that no one will ever read.
We don’t disappear for months and return with an abstract strategy that never gets implemented.
But we do work on high-impact consultancy projects with some of the world’s biggest brands—eBay, Roche, SAP, Turner Construction—tackling challenges like:
✔️ Leveraging AI in construction
✔️ Pivoting from print to digital media
✔️ Building the next innovation to enhance urban mobility
✔️ Redesigning financial services to improve customer experience and drive adoption
We don’t advise. We facilitate strategic decision-making and creative problem-solving.
We set the stage for your leadership and experts to make smart decisions and build actionable solutions—rooted in data, not guesswork.
Because we’re not a big consultancy firm. We just try harder.
Meet the founders
John Vetan
Co-founder | Trainer | Expert
John is the visionary behind Design Sprint Academy. A seasoned expert in product innovation with over 20 years of hands-on experience, facilitation and innovation strategy, he has worked with executive teams, product leaders, and consultants to solve complex challenges—spanning industries from finance to energy to government innovation.
John believes in making innovation fast, tangible, and repeatable—not just another buzzword. His hands-on approach has helped organizations move from strategy paralysis to rapid execution.
Dana Vetan
Co-founder | Trainer | Senior Innovation Consultant
Dana has over six years of experience in Design Sprints and Problem Framing. She has trained and coached teams across various industries, helping them develop user-centric solutions and drive innovation. With a background in psychology and design thinking, Dana designs and leads impactful training programs that empower teams to run effective workshops, align stakeholders, and make smarter decisions faster.
Her passion? Helping organizations break through uncertainty—not with more reports or meetings, but with structured, actionable methods that lead to real change.
What we do
At Design Sprint Academy, we help teams solve real problems, not just run workshops.
Why this matters?
Are we solving the right problem?
Do we have the right solution?
That’s where we come in.
