Sprint for Good 2018 with Justin Kaster
When I started my business I decided I wanted to give away a Design Sprint each year to a team working to create a product with a social good mission.
I delivered on that promise and facilitated a 3-day Sprint with a startup team in Minneapolis, MN in April to define and test new concepts to empower people to pursue their own dreams of doing good in the world!
Justin, the company’s founder, is a passionate entrepreneur who’s been working on a business to help people create a life that aligns with their unique values, interests and ambitions.
Their team most recently tested some concepts in the Minneapolis market around spending money with businesses that match up with consumer’s values and passions. Through that experience, Justin and team gathered some key learnings with a sample of consumers and businesses.
When Justin and I first started talking, he was in the midst of working on the next iteration of his business ideas and wanted help defining what his team could do next. I ran a 3-day Design Sprint with Justin’s team to design, test, and get feedback on new concepts that could help him evaluate the best next direction for his business.
Day 1: Empathy + Ideation
We started by cultivating empathy our target audience — reviewing research I’d gathered and insights from Justin’s earlier work.
We mapped out the journey for each our targets and defined the places we wanted to help them most.
Mapping the customer journey
Next, we dug into the Jobs to be Done for those people in the moments in time on our map we’d agreed on.
“A Job to be Done is the process a consumer goes through whenever she aims to transform her existing life-situation into a preferred one, but cannot because there are constraints that stop her.” — Alan Klement
We came up with MANY ideas for how to do those jobs. For more on ideation methods check out this post.
Ideation and theming
Day 2: Define and Test
We defined 3 unique versions of what the offering could be.
We created positioning language and simple prototypes of the concepts.
At the end of the day, we put our concepts in front of people who closely aligned with our target audience for feedback.
Storyboards
Storyboards in process
Day 3: Refine & Plan
At the start of day 3, we reviewed the feedback we’d received on our concepts from our testers and discussed their implications.
The team agreed on which adjustments should be made and which concept should be taken further.
Justin left with a solid foundation informed with market feedback and a clear plan of action for next steps — in just 3 days we went from uncertainty to actionable.
The team hard at work
What’s next?
Justin will be taking the work forward and creating the next version of his offering. Justin is currently hiring in a few areas including UX design and user research. If you’d like to inquire about opportunities to join his team or would like to connect for another reason, you can connect with him on LinkedIn.
As for me, I will keep Sprinting and will be on the lookout for my 2019 Sprint for Good partner. If you are interested or know someone who might be, you can see more here: Sprint for Good.
“As a startup business trying to mix the goals of social impact and profit, it’s really important that we find partners that share our view of the world. Jackie was a perfect fit. Her custom Sprint process was very helpful and was a refreshing approach to ideation. Jackie brings a real depth of experience and is naturally empathetic. I highly recommend both Jackie and her process for any company trying to push themselves to be more innovative.”
— Justin Kaster
