Design thinking is a mindset and a framework that leverages user empathy, problem definition, concept ideation, prototyping, and usability testing to achieve insights and findings in a short amount of time.
UpTop is a firm believer and practitioner of design thinking. This approach is how we drive velocity for our clients, delivering value and not artifacts. It is the foundation for our Design Sprint and UX Strategy Sprint, compared below, where design thinking is applied in structured phases to help kickstart your projects. While they are different in scope, both sprints will help to align your team around a common goal, identify solutions with the highest impact, and provide you with actionable insights to move forward with confidence.
Design Thinking
Redefine Your Problem and Create Velocity With Design Thinking
Key Benefits
- Understand. Learn about your users needs
- Define. Identify what problems to solve
- Diverge. Brainstorm individually to generate diverse ideas
- Decide. Consider all ideas and agree on where to focus
- Prototype. Create a mock-up of the solution to test with users
- Test. Validate if the prototype offers an optimal solution and iterate if necessary
Design Sprint If you’re tasked with solving a defined problem but you’re not sure where to begin, our 5 day Design Sprint is a great way to ideate and test solutions quickly. |
UX Envisioning Sprint If your idea needs clarity, our ~8-week UX Envisioning Sprint provides alignment and a North Star vision. |
UX Strategy Sprint
If a problem is large with little research done, our ~10-week UX Strategy Sprint provides alignment and a roadmap to reach your North Star vision. |
|
---|---|---|---|
Complex problem | No | Yes | Yes |
Additional Research needed | No | Yes | Yes |
Prototype | Paper or digital prototype of one solution | Mid - high fidelity prototype with "Happy Path" (80% of core features and functionality critical to users) | Mid - high fidelity prototype with "Happy Path" (80% of core features and functionality critical to users) |
North Star vision | No | Yes | Yes |
Recommendations | Yes | No | Yes |
UX roadmap | No | No | Yes |
Sprint length | 5 day workshop | ~8 weeks with 2 - 3 day workshop | ~10 weeks with 2 - 3 day workshop |
Participants | 5 - 8 | 5 - 8 | 5 - 8 |
Usability testing | Lean usability testing | No | R.I.T.E. usability testing |
Design iteration | No | Yes | Yes |
Alignment | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Solution ideation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Prioritized features | No | No | Yes |
Design Sprint Ideate and test solutions quickly in this 5-day sprint. |
---|
Complex problem | No |
Additional Research needed | No |
Prototype | Paper or digital prototype of one solution |
North Star vision | No |
Recommendations | Yes |
UX roadmap | No |
Sprint length | 5 day workshop |
Yes | 5 - 8 |
Usability testing | Lean usability testing |
Design iteration | No |
Alignment | Yes |
Solution ideation | Yes |
Prioritized features | No |
UX Envisioning Sprint
If your idea needs clarity, our ~8-week UX Envisioning Sprint provides alignment and a North Star vision. |
---|
Complex problem | Yes |
Additional Research needed | Yes |
Prototype | Mid - high fidelity prototype with "Happy Path" (80% of core features and functionality critical to users) |
North Star vision | Yes |
Recommendations | No |
UX roadmap | No |
Sprint length | ~8 weeks with 2 - 3 day workshop |
Participants | 5 - 8 |
Usability testing | No |
Design iteration | Yes |
Alignment | Yes |
Solution ideation | Yes |
Prioritized features | No |
UX Strategy Sprint
Tackle complex problems in this ~ 10-week sprint. |
---|
Complex problem | Yes |
Additional Research needed | Yes |
Prototype | Mid - high fidelity prototype with "Happy Path" (80% of core features and functionality critical to users) |
North Star vision | Yes |
Recommendations | Yes |
UX roadmap | Yes |
Sprint length | ~10 weeks with 2 - 3 day workshop |
Participants | 5 - 8 |
Usability testing | R.I.T.E. usability testing |
Design iteration | Yes |
Alignment | Yes |
Solution ideation | Yes |
Prioritized features | Yes |
Design Thinking Outcomes
Define your problem
Create internal alignment
Generate mass ideas
Prioritize opportunities
Create tangible prototypes
Validate your hypotheses
Generate a Northstar vision
Create a design strategy and roadmap
Evangelize your vision
Success Stories: UpTop
Engaging Inside Sales Millennials with Microsoft
UpTop’s focus on UX enabled their development team to stay agile through each product sprint, facilitating an adaptive, collaborative partnership with Microsoft.
F5
Taking a user centered approach to the redesign of F5's navigation, UpTop utilized UX research methods to categorized and label the site so that it makes sense to their core audience.
HMA (Healthcare Management Administrators)
During their process of envisioning and designing, HMA’s leadership engaged UpTop's expertise to help build their new Member Portal and Mobile App.
Engaging Inside Sales Millennials with Microsoft
UpTop’s focus on UX enabled their development team to stay agile through each product sprint, facilitating an adaptive, collaborative partnership with Microsoft.
F5
Taking a user centered approach to the redesign of F5's navigation, UpTop utilized UX research methods to categorized and label the site so that it makes sense to their core audience.
HMA (Healthcare Management Administrators)
During their process of envisioning and designing, HMA’s leadership engaged UpTop's expertise to help build their new Member Portal and Mobile App.
"UpTop has a wide range of capabilities. They had the rare ability to not only keep up with our speed but also bring unique and innovative ideas to the table. Their well of creativity never dried out in my experience. During the early stages of our product, they designed an excellent UX, then completely reinvented the product when we needed a refresh six months later."– Katie Spring, Sr. Business Program Manager, Microsoft
On The Blog: Design Thinking
Expert Insights with Craig Nishizaki on the Digital Clinic Podcast
Our Head of Business, Craig Nishizaki was invited to sit down with Aaron Burnett of Wheelhouse DMG to discuss how UX ali...
How to Create Velocity and Alignment for Your Vision
In this episode, we journey into integrating Design Thinking and Lean UX methods into practical workflows. With over 16 ...
What Comes Next? Because Customer Success Is About More Than Just the Task at Hand
Client success is about much more than just completing a sale. This guide provides a deep dive into how healthy approach...
Expert Insights with Craig Nishizaki on the Digital Clinic Podcast
Our Head of Business, Craig Nishizaki was invited to sit down with Aaron Burnett of Wheelhouse DMG to discuss how UX aligns business, brand, and digital transformation....
How to Create Velocity and Alignment for Your Vision
In this episode, we journey into integrating Design Thinking and Lean UX methods into practical workflows. With over 16 years of experience, Michael Woo—Director of UX at UpTop—shares candid refle...
What Comes Next? Because Customer Success Is About More Than Just the Task at Hand
Client success is about much more than just completing a sale. This guide provides a deep dive into how healthy approaches to task and project management lead to customer success....
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