Workshop with clients
The sprint starts with a 1-2 day discovery workshop followed by a 1-3 day feature definition workshop. These workshops can be done on-site or remotely if it's more convenient for the whole team and if we're not in completely different time zones.
It's a modular workshop, which means the duration depends on the team availability, the scope of the project and the number of main features.
For example, if the project has one key feature to explore during the workshop, and we have already met the project earlier, we can do a two-day discovery workshop and one-day feature workshop. In total, three days of workshops.
But, if the project has a lot of potential features and the team is not sure where to move forward, we will use two-day discovery workshop to find out these three features which we will then define during a three-day feature workshop. In total, five days of workshops.
Usually, from Infinum's side, we have two designers, a tech director and a project manager participating in the workshop. The number of participants from the client's team depends on the company and the structure of teams. It's most important to have a decision-maker such as a product owner or a CEO, and specialists such as market researcher, customer experience expert or technical expert.
During this intensive few days, all participants need to be available for the whole duration of the workshop, which means 4-6 hours/day for 3-5 days. So, clear your schedules.
On-site workshops usually last 4-6 hours per day in Infinum's or clients' offices, while remote online workshops last for 3-4 hours per day, and the team meets via Zoom.
Week 1, Part 1: Discovery workshop
The first part of the workshop is our classic discovery workshop. You can find handy guidelines for preparing this workshop here.
During the discovery workshop included in the sprint, you will need to focus on filtering out relevant information about the key features which will be prototyped and tested in Week 2.
Use this time to work out all of the dilemmas about the project, area, users and features with clients.
During the workshop, make an agreement on the personas you will test the prototype with and a final number of users required for usability testing in Week 2. 4-8 users should be enough for this initial testing. You'll need to organize the user sessions in parallel with Week 1 workshops.
At the end of the discovery workshop, you need to agree on 1-3 features you will define during the feature definition workshop. It is crucial to have an Infinum's tech director and a PM at this moment.
Week 1, Part 2: Feature definition workshop
Feature definition workshops happen right after the discovery workshop. Their primary purpose is to define the whole scope of the screens for each feature.
Start each day with an ideation phase, in which you will try to find as many possible solutions to define a flow of the feature.
Once the flow is defined, you can go into more details by doing low-fidelity wireframes of the flowchart and discussing it with the team.
To sketch flows and wireframes, divide the team into smaller groups.
Use the rest of the workshop to discuss solutions and the MVP scope of this specific feature.
Preparing for the workshops
If you are about to have a project sprint with the team, the first step is to learn as much information as possible and prepare before the sprint starts. We made a document for our clients explaining what needs to be done and delivered before the sprint.
The second step is to create a precise schedule for the sprint, including relevant exercises and the duration of each exercise per day. Here are a few agenda templates you can use:
Share the agenda with the clients and ask if they have any comments or suggestions regarding the workshop flow.
Don't forget to include at least two shorter breaks (10 min) and a lunch break (30-60 min). You don't want the team to get nervous! 🙂
If you feel a bit insecure about the outcome, to get everything right, make a quick test version of the workshop with your colleagues.
The next step is to clear your calendar and put other projects on hold because these workshops will need your full focus. Even if your workshop schedule says 4-6 hours of workshops per day, you will need to sync, review the steps and the work completed until the following day.
Finally, make sure you have the workshop booked in your calendar.
Pro tip: if you are organizing a five-day remote workshop, set discovery workshop for Thursday and Friday, to have a good rest before continuing with feature workshops on Monday to Wednesday.