---
title: My first remote design sprint
teaser: 'How to be a good human and how to be good to other humans in a remote design
  sprint.

  '
tags: design,product design sprint,remote
author: Elaina Natario
published_on: 2020-08-03
---

Hi hello, friend. Glad you're here. I just led my very first _remote_ 
design sprint. And I'd like to add to the [growing][article-ref-1] 
[pile of][article-ref-2] [suggestions][article-ref-3] in the hopes that 
you, dear reader, will find it helpful.

It's important to note this post wasn't written inside a vacuum. Though the 
tenets and tips below are (I hope) not ephemeral ideas, the impetus was driven 
from the state of the current state of the world.

We are in the middle of a pandemic.

We are in the middle of social upheaval and calls for change in response to 
centuries of the exclusion, abuse, and murder of the Black community. 

The US specifically is in the middle of a political crisis where our police are 
becoming even more militarized and brutal and where underpaid teachers are 
being sent back to schools to teach children with no regard to anyone's health 
or safety, among many many other troubling things.

Recognize with your team that this is happening. Talk about it. Many of your 
team members, including yourself, are probably compartmentalizing some complex 
and difficult emotions just to get through the day. Be kind and give folx 
breaks. Give yourself a break. Know that although this sprint may need to 
happen, it is certainly not a priority.

Given that you are reading this and perhaps need to facilitate one, know that 
the only strategy you really need to employ is _being a good human_ and _being 
good to other humans_. That's it. That's the post.

But for those looking for a few concrete ideas to help improve their sprint 
process, particularly in a remote setting, the following tips are for you.

[article-ref-1]: https://thoughtbot.com/blog/running-design-sprints-and-kickoffs-remotely
[article-ref-2]: https://library.gv.com/how-to-run-a-remote-design-sprint-without-going-crazy-840c23eef8a9
[article-ref-3]: https://medium.com/deep-work-studio/running-a-design-sprint-remotely-across-the-planet-301afcef9c3d

## Flexibility is key

Design sprints, while incredibly effective in a short amount of time, can be 
mentally draining. It’s a lot to ask of people to do all-day problem-solving 
activities for an entire week. Acknowledge that fact with your team. Thank them 
for their time. And note that some folx may be responsible for their normal 
day-to-day work on top of this. Encourage your team to be flexible with the 
schedule and work at a _sustainable_ pace.

As a facilitator, you can help support your team by writing out an agenda for 
the day and describing which parts are group activities and which ones are more 
indivualized. Your agenda should have a clear stopping time. Try and respect 
that time. Some activities may take longer than anticipated (and that's okay!) 
— see if subsequent activities can be shortened or pushed to the next day.

Additionally, be mindful that not everyone on your team has the privilege of a 
quiet workspace at home. [Normalize interruptions] and let folx know to pop out 
when they need. Say hello to the 6-year-old wandering into the video frame. 
Squee excessively over pets; pets are nearly always worth an interruption.

![A screen capture of a video meeting on Zoom. There are four small screens at the top, each with a person making a funny face. The large central photo at the bottom is a woman smiling holding up a baby who is also smiling.](https://images.thoughtbot.com/blog-vellum-image-uploads/0zHjkFfbQ4G8vgyVqdUy_screen_shot_2020-05-20_at_5.14.25_pm-1.png)

[Normalize interruptions]: https://thoughtbot.com/blog/building-inclusive-remote-workplaces#include-the-young-people

## Take breaks (lots of them)

Are you a person that is invigorated by a whole week of full-day meetings? I 
admire your energy. I fully support your lively attitude while I slowly sink 
lower into my chair, staring blankly, debating in my head whether hotdogs 
_really are_ sandwiches.

Many people need rest to restore their mental battery. Burnout is amplified 
even more when you're staring at a screen. [Make time for breaks], perhaps more 
than you normally would in-person, including meals.

Lunchtime, at least at thoughtbot, has always been a social activity for the 
team during a sprint. In a remote setting, it’s a welcome opportunity for 
everyone to turn off their laptops and recharge their minds a bit. As an added 
bonus, chatting about what folx managed to cobble together from the depths of 
their fridge is a built-in icebreaker conversation.

[Make time for breaks]: https://thoughtbot.com/blog/running-design-sprints-and-kickoffs-remotely#build-in-breaks

## Turn off webcams (sometimes)

_The Buggles_ have never been more right than they are today: 
[video really _did_ kill the radio star][buggles]. For many teams, 
days are packed with Zoom meetings, a Brady Brunch-esque grid of 
faces meant to replace our long-table meeting rooms. In theory, 
it’s a good substitute, but in practice, it can often lead to 
[screen fatigue]. Sprints are no exception.

I'm not against video conferencing. I use it often and I think it’s important 
for a sprint team to have discussions with faces in view. That said, we found 
it helpful to ask folx to disable their video for certain activities, using 
audio only. The team was able to place more focus on our remote whiteboard (we 
used [Miro]).

It’s worth mentioning, you should discuss this with your team beforehand 
(directly and/or privately) to verify this is an approach that works for all. 
Not everyone is able to communicate effectively without video available. 
And there are also many situations in which someone may not want to turn 
on their webcam at all during a meeting. 
[Be flexible, be supportive][inclusive-meetings].

[buggles]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8r-tXRLazs
[screen fatigue]: https://hbr.org/2020/04/how-to-combat-zoom-fatigue
[Miro]: https://miro.com/app/
[inclusive-meetings]: http://tbot.io/inclusive-meetings

## Let's recap!

A hallmark of a sprint — as opposed to other, less cool meetings — are walls 
filled to the brim with sticky notes, whiteboards marked with unexplainable 
squiggles, and drawings taped up in what little space is left. It’s a lot to 
take in. But it’s also a great visual of all the information you’ve captured so 
far and when. And it’s a reference point for what your team will ultimately be 
building.

An in-person facilitator uses this room full of artifacts as a tool to guide 
the team. It’s easy to remind everyone of what you discussed or decided on the 
day before by walking over and pointing at it. This is an effective way to show 
the team how each activity builds on one another to ultimately create your 
final prototype for testing.

In a remote setting, you can recap these important decisions by using the 
[attention management tool] in Miro.

[attention management tool]: https://help.miro.com/hc/en-us/articles/360013358479-Attention-Management

## Analog can still work

Not every sprint activity needs to be translated to a digital space. One such 
activity is [Speedy Eights]. The main point of this exercise is to churn out as 
many small interactions in the form of wireframes as quickly as possible 
without getting too detailed. This activity (and most of the [Diverge Day] 
activities) is a way for each individual to generate ideas that they may or may 
not use in their final storyboard. Paper and markers still work well — just let 
your team know ahead of time to have these supplies handy. The back of a phone 
bill and the half-broken crayon you found under the couch can also work in a 
pinch.

The [individual storyboarding] exercise can also still be on paper. Have 
participants take a picture of it when finished and upload it to the remote 
whiteboard in preparation for group critique and voting.

[Speedy Eights]: https://thoughtbot.com/product-design-sprint/guide/diverge/speedy-eights
[Diverge Day]: https://thoughtbot.com/product-design-sprint/guide/diverge
[individual storyboarding]: https://thoughtbot.com/product-design-sprint/guide/diverge/story-boarding

## Digital drawing tools are a plus

There comes a time in every designer’s life where you have to draw in front of 
your non-designer team and then explain to them that you’re a designer, not an 
illustrator, but you still went to art school so you really have no excuse, but 
at any rate here’s a very poor drawing of a hand holding a phone. This very 
event is inevitable during a sprint. We call it [storyboarding].

Re-creating the final storyboard activity is awkward at best if your only tool 
is your laptop trackpad (it’s doable, but not ideal). If you have the luxury of 
owning a a tablet with a stylus, you’ll probably have an easier time when 
drawing. Be sure to test out your tools ahead of time with whichever digital 
whiteboard you’re using.

[storyboarding]: https://thoughtbot.com/product-design-sprint/guide/converge/final-storyboard

## Make a cursor zoo

There are a lot of stopping points along an in-person sprint where a 
facilitator needs to give the team time and space to read and digest 
information. This is especially important on [Converge Day], when reviewing 
others’ storyboards. Traditionally, folx will walk the room, and most likely 
take their seat when finished — a tacet indication that the team can move on to 
the next activity.

Replicating this social cue virtually was a stumbling block. Constantly asking 
the team if they were done is disruptive (this is meant to be a silent 
activity), ineffective (not everyone answers), and unscalable (imagine asking 
this to a room of 15 people instead of 7). Setting a timer puts unnecessary 
pressure on teammates who read and absorb new content at a different pace than 
others. That pressure is especially evident when power dynamics come into play 
(e.g. Not asking for more time to read because your boss is done reading).

Enter the cursor zoo. Or lobby. Or basement lounge. Whatever you want to call 
it.

Draw a rectangular area on your remote whiteboard. Tell participants to move 
their cursors to that designated zone when they’re done reading. Move on when 
all the cursors are present and accounted for. Voilà!

![A white rectangle with a border around it and type that says cursor zoo. Within the rectangle are various-colored cursors with people's names attached to each cursor](https://images.thoughtbot.com/blog-vellum-image-uploads/rMJbQ38QfqiHOP9M6pgg_zoo.jpg)

[Converge Day]: https://thoughtbot.com/product-design-sprint/guide/converge

## Share the wealth

Do you now feel completely prepared to shift your strategies and run your 
design sprints remotely?

You don't?

Well, good. You shouldn't. Much like design itself, the process of facilitating 
a sprint should be iterative and contextual to the product and the humans on 
your team. A lot of your best ideas may be totally off-the-cuff. It can be 
completely nerve wracking, which is normal (I am usually a puddle of nerves 
before each and every sprint I've facilitated.)

When running one, start documenting what's working well for you and what's not. 
And share that information! We'll be a better design community for it.