Inspiration exists but it has to find you working. Picasso’s quote precisely resembles smart people from Košice for whom Creative Industry Košice has facilitated Design Sprint’s pilot version. But is it possible to stir inspiration, plan it or simply expect it during exact time and among a specific type of people?
Can you develop smart business at one session?
Hey, spoiler here – of course you can. The answer lies in various forms of innovation incubators or weekend trips when discovering solutions for key business questions. Or during any other similar occasion. Take hackathon or startup weekend in Košice for example – they take place on regular basis and are enjoyed by a great amount of people not only from IT sector.
Design Sprint has occurred in Košice for the first time though, 3rd – 4th July 2018. Here is a list of 5 reasons why it was worth attending it:
- People of all sorts of occupations participated
Sprints are usually arranged for employees of a given company in them well-known environment and particular challenge of closely-specified problem. And so to support creative brainstorming for innovations often appear when merging disciplines. Design Sprint by CIKE was made for wide group of people who hadn’t known each other before. Another reason was to introduce and widen the co-create methodology as far as possible so individuals could use it within their own fields.
- 5 different product & service prototypes were developed
We verified their authenticity right at the spot. Even though a detailed description would be needed for each for them, it happens rarely that at one place and in such a short time something similar ensues.
- Relaxed atmosphere, zero fee
Multiple companies hopes to gain real innovations and graspable results so they also pay large sums of money for it.
- Design Sprint is worth traveling to Košice
Marcel who organizes Sprints in other part of Slovakia came as well.
- You’ll make a use of networking and get a completely different viewpoint
Sprinters got the chance to meet smart people from diverse spheres of expertise. Culture managers found interesting IT guys, UX met tilers.
Design Sprint imposes co-crete design challenges:
The difference between DS and hackathon is the actual challenge announced at the beginning of Sprint and introducing a problem to be solved. The rule are its opening lines ‘‘How might we…’’. These are supposed to encourage imagination and thinking far outside the box.
July’s challenge ‘‘How might we connect smart people from Košice with the world and vice versa’’ stirred numerous great solutions and actual forms of them. Tinder inspired business app, solving-needs Chatbot, add-on service for individuals traveling abroad for some period, promo video and even proposal for professional contact point of local and foreign business. The aim of the challenge was, therefore, to define limits, set direction and enhance creativity.
What the hell is Design Sprint?
Process solving business challenges via prototyping and testing. Over more than 100 different strategies, design thinking methods and user research from Google Ventures under the supervision of J. Knapp has matured into the most effective methodology which supports both – creative and logical thinking combining them into a single approach. Design Sprint is still in the development-process and so each one is a test and prototype itself. For that reason its result or course isn’t really predictable.
Design Sprints helped many companies innovate their service or product. They are incubators of concentrated energy and mental sprint for its participants evolving a creative idea during limited time and space, testing its usage and at the same time selling it to others.
During Design Sprint by CIKE sprinters had only two days, three leaders, strict time limit and various tools helping to reach the goal. Questions, prophecies, cards, thought and emotion maps are just few examples of practical side of co-design method. Due to this reason Sprint came through without any obstacles.
The Co-creation session is part of the project CO-CREATE, that has been made possible with the aid of European funding, made available through the Erasmus+ framework. It is an initiative of six partners committed to supporting the creative industries sector across Europe: Creative Region (Austria), University of Art and Design (Austria), Academy of Fine Arts and Design (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia), Deusto University (Spain), Creative Industry Kosice (Slovakia) and the European Creative Business Network (The Netherlands).
