Every phase of the design sprint is equally important, but the “Ask the Experts” activity, that Jake Knapp recommends doing on Monday afternoon, lays the foundation for innovative solutions. Without the experts’ knowledge, you won’t have a clear direction for your sprint. During this activity team members will engage in interviews with people who have a deep knowledge of the problem area and who can lend insights to solving the issue.

Why Expert Interviews Matter

Each interview with an expert provides a direct like to insights that may not be visible through your own research. The experts you interview should have a deep understanding of the ins and outs of every facet of the industry you are working with. Based on Knapp’s methodology, these sessions help teams to grab hold of the intricacies of the problem, understand the target audience’s behaviors, and identify any upcoming problems early. Knapp recommends interviewing at least one person who has expertise on each of the topics; strategy, voice of the customer, and how things work. By learning about their experiences with similar challenges, your team can avoid redundancy and focus on the areas that will have the highest impact.

Structuring Effective Expert Interviews

To maximize what you get out of your expert interviews, approach them with a clear strategy:

• Preparation: According to thefamiliar.tech, it’s recommended to reach out and schedule your interviews before the sprint. Reach out to stakeholders, industry specialists, or users with firsthand experience. Create a set of open ended questions that require detailed responses that focus on the problem’s context and user needs.
• Facilitation: During the interview session, create an environment that encourages open conversation. Make sure that each person on the team has a role such as; leading the interview, taking notes, and capturing key points and “How Might We” statements.
• Synthesis: After the interview, you and your team should meet to talk about findings, organize HMW statements, and identify recurring themes. This takes each person’s insights and forms it into a mutual understanding focus for the sprint.

In Knapp’s book, Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days, he talks about a sprint where the team had gotten started on the sprint before interviewing a subject matter expert. They drew their map before she came in, and after the team spoke with her, their entire map had to be changed. What Knapp and his team learned from this is that the interviews with experts must be done prior to starting progress so that they know everything there is to know about the problem.

Challenges and Considerations

While the expert interviews are critical to the sprint’s progression, it’s important to be aware of some challenges that could come up:

• Time Constraints: Knapp recommends thirty minutes for each interview. It might not seem like long, but because of the sprint’s short timeline it can be tough to fit it all in. It’s important to plan and schedule ahead with the experts who can offer the most insights.
• Information Overload: You will be interviewing multiple people in one day, so you will be listening to a lot of information in a short amount of time. Taking effective notes and regrouping with your team will ensure that you know the key takeaways.
• Bias: The experts may have some preconceived notions based on their experiences. Taking their opinions into consideration along with your user research will give you a solid understanding of your problem.

The Lasting Impact of Expert Interviews

Expert interviews are crucial to the beginning stages of your design sprint. The experts bridge the gap of unknown information and perspectives and help to construct a clear path for the rest of the week. By talking to the right experts and asking the right questions, your team will increase the likelihood of designing solutions that will resonate with your target audience.