Best Design Sprint Templates for Designers

Design Sprints allow designers to innovate and validate ideas quickly, dramatically reducing the time it takes to bring products to the market. A well-structured Design Sprint template in Notion can guide teams through this rapid process, ensuring all critical steps are efficiently managed and collaborative insights are effectively integrated.

Before diving into the creation of your own Design Sprint template, take a moment to explore these selected templates to streamline your process and make it more manageable.

What Should Design Sprint Templates Include?

Choosing the right Design Sprint template can significantly streamline your project's design phase. Here are key components to look for when selecting a template:

  1. Clear Objectives: The template should clearly outline the goals of the sprint, ensuring that every participant understands the focus and purpose from the start.

  2. Timeline and Phases: A well-structured timeline that segments the sprint into distinct phases helps in maintaining momentum and clarity throughout the process.

  3. Tools and Resources: Look for templates that include a list of necessary tools and resources to facilitate the various activities during the sprint.

  4. Roles and Responsibilities: It should clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each team member to avoid confusion and overlap during the sprint.

Selecting a template with these components will help ensure a smooth and effective Design Sprint, paving the way for innovative solutions and efficient problem-solving.

What Should Design Sprint Templates Avoid?

Choosing the right Design Sprint template is crucial for streamlining your project's workflow. However, certain features can hinder rather than help. Here are three key components to steer clear of:

  1. Overly Complex Instructions: Templates should simplify the process, not complicate it. Avoid templates that include dense, hard-to-follow instructions that can confuse team members.

  2. Non-Customizable Elements: Flexibility is key in design sprints. Templates that don't allow easy modifications can restrict creativity and adaptability to specific project needs.

  3. Irrelevant Content Sections: Ensure the template is tailored for design sprints and doesn't include unnecessary sections that are more suited to other types of projects.

Remember, the best template is one that saves time and enhances productivity without adding unnecessary complexity or constraints.

1Design Sprint

This template is designed to help design teams continuously track and iterate on their projects, from creative sprints to finished projects based on user feedback.

A template preview for Design Sprint

2UX Project Structure

This template provides the perfect starting point for a New UX Project. Use the structure proposed in it to start documenting your project and slowly unpack the design problem space you're solving for.

A template preview for UX Project Structure

3Definition of Ready Checklist

The Definition of Ready (DoR) is a crucial concept in agile development that outlines the criteria a user story must meet before it can be implemented. This checklist will provide teams with a comprehensive framework for effectively defining the DoR and by following it, teams can ensure that user stories are well-prepared, reducing ambiguity and improving efficiency.

A template preview for Definition of Ready Checklist

4RICE Framework

Welcome to the RICE Framework Notion Template โ€“ your ultimate tool for prioritizing projects and tasks effectively. Inspired by the pioneering work of the Intercom team, this template is designed to streamline your product management process, ensuring that your team focuses on work that maximizes impact and value.

RICE stands for:

Reach: How many people will this impact?
Impact: To what extent will this contribute to our goals?
Confidence: How sure are we about these estimates?
Effort: How many person-hours will this require?

The template guides you through a structured process to score your projects and features, allowing you to make data-driven decisions on what to prioritize next. With an intuitive layout and comprehensive scoring system, youโ€™ll be able to assess your initiatives' potential with clarity and precision. Dive in and discover how to optimize your product's impact with our RICE Framework Notion Template.

A template preview for RICE Framework

5Merci Grace's remote brand design sprint

Merci Grace is the former Head of Growth at Slack and Partner at Lightspeed Ventures. Her brand sprint template, inspired by Google Ventures' , turns an intimidating creative process into something collaborative and fun. Kick things off with this sprint and give your remote team the tools you need to start defining your brand.

This template is just one of Merci's many product development templates, all of whichย .

A template preview for Merci Grace's remote brand design sprint

6Prototypes testing questions

7 questions to test your prototype
This template is based on questions I often use when it comes to test new ideas with customers.
These questions work with almost any type of prototype be it a storyboard, a lego prototype, a role-play session a paper prototype or a digital one.

You can change everything in this template to make it your own.

A template preview for Prototypes testing questions

7Designer Project Tracker and Client Portal

Powered by the new Notion projects feature, this template helps designers and design studios manage tasks across projects. It also comes with an inspiring and on-brand client portal where all client conversations, feedbacks and approvals take place. All project resources and references are also organized in the client portal. A full walkthrough of the template can be found here: https://youtu.be/LOngru5hZXg

A template preview for Designer Project Tracker and Client Portal

8Graphic Designer Notion

Here everything is in one space. Work and creativity. Everything is in your hands. What you will find here are books, inspirations and working phases. You want one button for everything, jobs, freelancer tools, easy search engine and so on. You will find intelligence that is free, Free AI tools, gives you a lot of resources and does your work, giving you time to do more and achieve your goals. Easy payment system and many more that you can see with your eyes. books that contain - Books on what design is, history of design, and formulas on how to develop vision, vision in the field where creativity only revolves. Books on Psychology, How to Manage People and Win Friends, How to Make Strong Arguments and Let's be deep thinkers, Meditation, How to Win Any Argumentative Matter, and Be an Outstanding Thinker of Intelligence. These books cover a range of topics, from developing mental strength and resilience to managing interpersonal relationships and developing a strong sense of self. The self-realized soul is neither attached to nor detached from anything. He simply lets things be, knowing they are all an illusion." - Ashtavakra Gita

A template preview for Graphic Designer Notion

9Designers Project Management

A Notion project management template for designers.

This template provides a focused space to manage your daily design projects and tasks.

What's included:

โœ” Project management system

โœ” Task management system

โœ” Project planning

โœ” Task tracking

โœ” Task prioritization

โœ” Task deadline tracking

โœ” Project progress tracking

โœ” Task progress tracking

โœ” Customizable workflows

A template preview for Designers Project Management

10UX Playbook

Clear steps to improve your UX process. Ready-to-use templates such as Project Kickoff, Customer Journey Map, Concept Testing, and more, helping you to optimize your workflow. Solutions that can be applied to any UX project.

A template preview for UX Playbook

Closing Thoughts

Utilizing these templates streamlines the creative process, allowing you to focus more on innovation and less on structure. They provide a clear roadmap, reducing project timelines and enhancing team collaboration.

Implementing these tools can significantly boost your productivity and project outcomes. Start integrating them into your workflow today to see immediate improvements in your design process.

What is a Prototype?

A prototype in a design sprint is a preliminary model of the final product, used to test and validate ideas before full-scale production.

What is a Facilitator?

In the context of a design sprint, a facilitator guides the team through the process, ensuring that the sprint objectives are met efficiently.

What is a User Journey Map?

A user journey map is a visual representation that outlines the steps a user takes to achieve a goal within the product being designed in the sprint.

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