An entry-level designer’s role in a sprint
As an entry-level UX designer, you won't be running the show, but you'll play an important role contributing to every phase of the sprint. Let's check out what your sprint week might look like.
When you get to the sprint space, you'll find everything you need to do your work. You'll have office supplies, water to drink and maybe some snacks. The sprint leader will welcome everyone and lay out some ground rules. For example, you might have to give up your phone and keep your laptop closed until the end of each day. There might also be a team icebreaker, like the example mentioned earlier. Once everyone is settled in, it's time to get started.
The first day is the understand phase, where you'll get a clear picture of the design challenge. There will be plenty of short talks by experts that are designed to inspire you. Make note of any thoughts you have.
Phase 2 is the ideate phase. The sprint leader will guide the team through brainstorming activities to spark creativity and generate many possible solutions to the design challenge. Your main focus is coming up with ideas and putting them out there.
Welcome to phase 3, the Decide Phase. Congratulations, you're halfway through the sprint. Your team will decide on the solution with the greatest chance of success. As a newbie UX designer, you'll get involved in every stage of the decision-making process. When potential solutions fight it out, you'll vote for the one you think has the most potential. As you might remember, at this point, you also need to start planning ahead for testing or phase 5 of the design sprint. As an entry-level UX designer, you might help by scheduling testers, creating survey or interview questions, and gathering necessary equipment.
Phase 4 is all about creating a prototype of your product. As an entry-level UX designer, you'll be actively involved in creating a solid prototype for users to try out. You'll ask questions, offer ideas, and review the completed prototype. You might also confirm the test users for phase 5.
Phase 5. We've made it. It's test day. The test phase is the final phase of the process where you put your prototype to the test. You might be asked to collect user feedback by observing and interviewing users. This feedback helps the team know what to revise before bringing the product to market and that's it.
Conclusion
As you reach the design sprint process finish line, expect to feel like you just completed an actual sprint at a track meet. A successful sprint will leave you tired, but energized, chock full of new ideas, and with a fire in your belly to get to work.
I still remember the first sprint that I was a part of. "I came up with some cool ideas, but also a lot of bad ones." No worries if this happens to you as well. This is why validating your ideas with users is baked into the design sprint process. You'll have ideas and so will the rest of your team. Meaning, it doesn't rely solely on you. It's a team effort and by the end of the process, you'll have a better sense of whether your idea is working or not before implementing it.