Understand - “Everyone gets to immerse themselves in the problem and gain a shared understanding,” says Dan Martin, Digital Strategy Director at Addition. The sprint group starts with the end, discussing objectives and nailing down questions to be answered throughout the process. This stage also features Ask the Experts: quickfire overviews from visiting client experts who drop in to offer their expertise and possible solutions. At the end of day one, a ‘map’ of the problem has been created and is often left on the wall of the sprint venue for all to consider.

Prototype - The hard work of the past few days becomes a reality. Routes to market are chosen, and participants are assigned roles to breathe life into the concept, ready for testing in real-world situations. “We explain the need to produce something realistic that people can try out, so it’s believable enough for them to tell you if it’s working or not,” Stewart says. “The approach doesn’t have to be digital. We explore whatever will work best.”

Validate - In other words, user testing. Five interviewees are asked for their views on the prototype. The interviews take place in a separate rooms, using a question script developed in phase four, while the rest of the team take notes. Dan adds: “There are a few different outcomes. Firstly, the prototype could be a roaring success, so the client should make it either themselves or with us. Secondly, maybe there are imperfections but the idea seems to work. At that point, we can loop back to the sketching phase and use those insights to come up with another prototype. Thirdly, the idea’s a failure and the user interviews prove customers aren’t bothered about something we all thought was a problem. But the great thing is you’ve only spent a week finding that out, rather than six.”