What is a Design Sprint Hackathon?
Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are just a few of the tech giants that have embraced hackathons as a powerful tool for innovation. Each company puts its own spin on the format:
- Google’s Code Jam is a world-renowned competition that challenges participants to solve complex coding problems.
- Facebook’s Hack for Change encourages developers to create solutions for social and environmental issues.
- Microsoft’s Imagine Cup is a global student competition that inspires young innovators to build the next generation of technology.
Why are hackathons so popular?
Hackathons offer a unique environment that fosters creativity and collaboration. They bring together diverse teams to brainstorm new ideas, solve problems, and develop innovative solutions.
Now, imagine combining the energy and speed of a hackathon with the structured approach of a design sprint. This powerful combination can lead to even more impactful results.
While hackathons and design sprints are both effective innovation techniques, they have distinct goals and processes. Let’s take a closer look.
At Design Sprint Academy, we believe that both hackathons and design sprints are powerful tools for driving innovation. However, to maximize their impact, it’s crucial to set clear goals and expectations for each event.
Should the focus be on fostering creativity, launching tangible products, or a combination of both?Is the event a learning exercise or a launchpad for real-world solutions? Answering these questions upfront will help ensure the event’s success.
When the goal is to both learn and launch, a hybrid approach that combines the best of hackathons and design sprints can be particularly effective.
Imagine the excitement of a hackathon: fast-paced, focused on experimentation, and filled with the vibrant energy of teamwork. Now, let’s elevate this experience by incorporating the structured approach of a design sprint. This means:
- Diverse Teams: Involving people from various backgrounds and disciplines.
- Real-World Challenges: Focusing on problems that directly impact the business and its customers.
- User Validation: Testing solutions with real users to gather feedback and refine the final product.
A Design Sprint Hackathon is a three-day event designed to bring diverse teams together to solve strategic business challenges. The event is structured using a combination of hackathon and design sprint principles.
Enter the Design Sprint Hackathon
Welcome to the Design Sprint Hackathon, where we dive into challenges handpicked for their strategic significance. It's not just about innovation; it's about aligning with core business objectives, thanks to the groundwork laid in problem framing sessions with key players.
What sets us apart?
- Strategic Focus: We tackle challenges that directly align with your business goals.
- Structured Creativity: Our proven framework guides teams through a series of creative exercises to generate innovative ideas.
- Rapid Prototyping: We use AI-powered tools to quickly create realistic prototypes without complex coding.
- User-Centric Design: We prioritize user needs and validate solutions with real customers.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: We bring together diverse teams to foster creativity and break down silos.
- Accelerated Feedback Loops: We gather real-time feedback from users to refine solutions and iterate quickly.
The setup
At the Design Sprint Academy, we've dedicated years to aiding big firms in conducting these events. We've crafted a format that's not only effective in raising awareness and fostering learning but also yields tangible results. It's designed to be efficient, requiring just the right amount of manpower to achieve outcomes without hampering the company's productivity.
- Key to Success: Thorough preparation.
- Event Format: In-person - one large room - four teams, each with 7-9 expert - all teams working in parallel
- Topics: Four different complex challenges, aligned with business strategy; topic areas: process improvement, new product ideas, AI integration.
- Participants: 28-36 employees, diverse expertise in relevant challenge areas.
- Structure: all teams follow an uniform design sprint framework (playbook and slide decks); the teams are guided by specialized design sprint facilitators.
Design Sprint Hackathon Phases
Before the Hackathon
1. Securing Commitment and Identifying Key Challenges
Our approach hinges on collaboration and strategy. That's why we start by bringing senior leadership into the fold with a Problem Framing Workshop.
In these sessions, we dive deep with leaders to pinpoint and rank complex business issues. Early involvement ensures challenges are in sync with the company's growth ambitions, resonate with staff, and have a committed sponsor ready to bring solutions to life.
Outcomes: Expect a laser-focused identification of business challenges, backed by leadership support. This alignment with organizational goals and early leader engagement is our formula for driving impactful, valuable change.
2. Insight Collection and Team Formation
Every successful event with begins with thorough groundwork. That's why we take a rigorous approach to the preparation phase of our events.
First, we gather all the necessary information on the business challenges and incorporate customer insights. This helps us to develop a deep understanding of the challenges at hand and ensures that the teams solutions are aligned with the needs of your customers.
Next, we recruit and onboard the best teams of experts to solve the identified business challenges. This involves bringing together individuals with diverse backgrounds and expertise, who can work collaboratively to develop innovative solutions.
Third, we screen testers to validate/invalidate the final concepts. This helps us to refine our solutions and ensure that they are viable and effective.
Outcomes: Expect four expertly curated teams, ready for the sprint, and a lineup of users/customers to test and validate these solutions.
3. Build a Core Team of Design Sprint Facilitators
For hackathons to truly leave a lasting impact, it's key to have a strong internal skill set and the right tools. We assist organizations in forming a core group of Design Sprint Facilitators, armed with top-notch playbooks and tools for consistent success.
Our experience spans over seven years, training 3,000+ professionals globally. Our renowned Design Sprint Bootcamp has been embraced by major companies. It's a hands-on, immersive experience where participants learn through doing, led by experts.
Outcomes: We'll equip your team of facilitators with premier resources, enabling them to conduct impactful Design Sprint Workshops that bring real value and catalyze change within your organization.
The 3-Day Hackathon Journey
Turning Ideas into Prototypes in 72 Hours
We have four diverse expert teams tackling three distinct business challenges simultaneously, following the Design Sprint process.
- Central and Team Facilitation: A lead facilitator from Design Sprint Academy ensures cohesion among teams, each also guided by their own facilitator.
- Uniform Tools for Consistent Excellence: All teams use our specially designed toolkits and slides for structured and effective outcomes.
Despite normally being a 4-day process, we've condensed it into three action-packed days:
- Day 1: Teams immerse themselves in understanding customer issues and business challenges, setting their sprint goals, and mapping out the problem space.
- Day 2: Teams brainstorm and develop unique solution proposals, leveraging creative techniques to generate innovative ideas.
- Day 3: It’s all about refining these solutions, crafting AI-driven prototypes, and conducting real-user testing to gather feedback for future iterations.
This intensive approach means rapid prototyping and valuable insights in a remarkably short time.
Celebrating Success - Demo Day Post-Hackathon
Post-hackathon, our facilitators and teams focus on distilling their experiences and refining their prototypes into polished presentations.
Demo day is a virtual celebration, open company-wide. In this hour-long session, the four teams showcase their hard work to the key stakeholders and fellow employees. It's more than a display of solutions; it's a demonstration of rapid problem-solving and customer validation. Senior leaders get a firsthand look at the innovations, deciding which projects will advance and which will not. This day is pivotal in demonstrating the power of quick, collaborative innovation in addressing complex challenges.
Conclusion
Design Sprint Hackathons are more than just a fad; they’re a fusion of creativity and strategy—a veritable goldmine for companies serious about innovation. This isn’t just about employee engagement or ticking off the innovation box. It’s about tangible results—new products, streamlined processes, and solutions that actually resonate with customers.
The Design Sprint Hackathon isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have in today’s cutthroat business environment. So, here’s the question: Would it be a mistake to remain on the sidelines and not explore how our Design Sprint Hackathons can move your ideas to early-stage validation and spark a culture of innovation?
