Design Sprint vs. Design Thinking: The Difference
Since the startup industry has increased, many business owners are looking for ways to build their brands to be liked by people. There are many ways to make the brand liked by the target market. The most widely used methods are design thinking and design sprints. Design sprints and design thinking are used by the production team to develop products and services that match customer needs. To apply these two things in business, you must understand the meaning and difference.
Design thinking is an innovative and problem-solving process that focuses on the customers. Design thinking is a framework or mindset to continue to put customers’ opinions in the process of innovating. By using design thinking, the creative team will be required to think about how to make a product or business decision that prioritises customer needs. Design thinking makes businesses not only focus on customers but also focus on prototyping and testing. There are 5 stages that need to be done in design thinking such as empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. By going through these five stages, it is very possible to get an appropriate solution to the problem.
Whereas design sprint is a methodological process based on design thinking. The design sprint is a system or method used to find a solution to a problem. Usually, the design sprint is done in five days, ideally up to two weeks. The steps used in the process are collecting problems, making a list of solutions, deciding the right solution, prototyping, and testing. Each step is usually done in one day. This will make maximum results. Some people call the design sprint a product sprint. This is because the output of these two terms is similar, namely a product that utilizes visual design.
The difference between design thinking and design sprint is in the process. If design thinking has many techniques and takes a long time to do it. So the design sprint use technique of sharing insight, creating solution, making prototypes, and testing which only takes 5 days. The conclusion is that design thinking is the foundation of innovation, while design sprints are the most innovative way to systematically execute everything in the foundation.
In business, it is expected to apply design thinking in almost all situations. The reason is, this will make the team look at the problem in detail. As for the design sprint, you can apply it in several conditions. For example, when creating a new product, working with a new team, or requiring completion in a relatively short time. If a product requires some of these conditions, then the use of a design sprint will give better results.
Design thinking and design sprints are popular and widely applied in startups. These two things need to be understood properly and correctly so that there are no misunderstandings. Many people think that these two methods are the same. In fact, design thinking and design sprints are similar but different in several ways. If you still don’t understand, maybe you can consult with a business agency in Singapore that is experienced in design for business.