SCRUM vs. Design Thinking – Same, same but different!

Both SCRUM and Design Thinking are hot topics in the management world – everybody talks about them, some use them, few understand them. These buzzwords are all over the place and widely misused. As certified SCRUM Master and Design Thinking coach I’d like to clear the air a little bit and help you figure out what they are really about, how they are similar and, more importantly, how they also significantly differ from one another.

Same, same…

SCRUM is a framework for developing and sustaining, i.e. continuously improving, complex products. Design Thinking is a user-centric innovation method/ toolset for solving complex problems. The complexity involved in both topics explains why only few people truly understand them and use them in an appropriate way. So what do they have in common?

1. Agile, sprint-based way of working (SCRUM is agile from the beginning, Design Thinking becomes agile once the problem phase is completed and the solution phase begins)
2. Iterative, incremental progress
3. Clear rules & steps to follow
4. User-centricity at the core of the entire product/ service development
5. Multi-disciplinary, self-organized and empowered teams
6. Visual way of working (little theory and plans, more visual execution)
7. Collaboration (no individual, only team successes)
8. Business value optimization & risk reduction  (the value for the client/ business is always maximized and guaranteed while the risk of failure is minimized through early, cost-efficient and continuous customer involvement)
9. Co-Creation (product development and testing with future (potential) customers)
10. Complexity (both are used in complex environments, i.e. when the solution is not yet clear and known right from the beginning and there is no stringent path to follow)

...but different!

So it seems like SCRUM and Design Thinking are almost the same with all these common characteristics. While it is true that many of the ‘cultural mantras’ and ways of working are similar because they are both agile, iterative frameworks, there are crucial differences between the two.

1. Different origin (while SCRUM was initially born specifically as an agile software development framework, Design Thinking was coined by David Kelley, professor at Stanford University and founder of one of the world’s leading design agencies IDEO, as a general user-centric innovation method)
2. Different output (while SCRUM mandatorily delivers a useable, potentially releasable product increment at the end of every sprint, Design Thinking does not have this rule – an output of an early design sprint might simply be a non-functional prototype to visualize the idea)
3. Different starting point (while SCRUM directly starts with the solution development, Design Thinking allocates at least 50% of the time to first clearly phrase the problem that is to be solved before jumping into solution development)
4. Different rule enforcement (while SCRUM clearly outlines the roles and responsibilities of each person (SCRUM Master, Product Owner and Development Team), the nature and agenda of all four official events (Daily SCRUM, Sprint Planning, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective) as well as the look-a-like and management of the artefacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog and Product Increment), Design Thinking is much less ‘regulated’ – it only entails the objective of each phase and no clear team composition, role/ result descriptions etc. exist)

Design Thinking first, SCRUM second

Having cleared the mystery about the two different frameworks and gained an understanding of the similarities and differences, one question remains: When should you use which one? The answer is quite simple: Design Thinking first, SCRUM second. Why? Because it is really important that you have clearly figured out what exact problem it is that you are trying to solve. Many of my clients start out with a problem that is either relevant but too general, or even completely irrelevant (as confirmed by early customer involvement). It is very important to validate your initial assumption as early as possible with the customers you are targeting to ensure that you are not spending any time and money on developing a product/ service that nobody really needs. Design Thinking is therefore ideal to formulate and validate the problem.

But that’s not all! Once you have done that and clearly expressed your problem statement, you can now creatively ideate new, user-centric solutions and directly test them with the help of prototypes. Prototypes allow you to visualize an idea, make it tangible and therefore also discussable. Prototypes do not have to be functional, they are focusing on the ‘front-end’ and are the easiest and quickest way to validate whether your solution is attractive for your potential customers.

Once you have developed a few prototypes, successfully tested them and thereby gained a profound understanding of what the perfect final solution should look like, the next step would be to build an MVP (minimum viable product). An MVP allows you to launch your product/service as fast as possible by concentrating only on the 1-3 most value-adding feature(s).

Here’s when SCRUM comes into play! SCRUM is now the perfect framework to use once you know how the solution should look like. In clearly-defined development sprints, you can then quickly build an MVP which is useable and potentially releasable. Of course, SCRUM doesn’t stop with an MVP – once you have that launched, SCRUM can be used to continuously add functionalities in new releases (e.g. 1-2 functionalities per sprint) until you have fully developed your ‘final’ product, as envisioned with your initial prototypes.

SCRUM and Design Thinking in Practice

Now that you know which framework to use when, I’d like to finish this article with my experiences in their actual implementation. Oftentimes, projects for digital product/ service development start with so-called design sprints (a one-week sprint which effectively and efficiently leads the team through the problem and solution phase, starting with problem validation and finishing with a first tested prototype). Such design sprints are usually repeated 2-3 times until you have your final prototype which has been positively validated by the market.

Once that’s done, the development sprints start – they usually take 2-4 weeks and deliver a working product increment (front-end + back-end). After 2-4 development sprints, you usually have your MVP. They can then be pursued until the ‘final’ product release, making sure the customer value is always maximized meaning that the most value-adding feature(s) are the ones to be implemented first.

To sum up, both Design Thinking and SCRUM (as similar as they are at first glance) have their unique right to exist, as they perfectly complement each other in the process of digital solution development. So get started, use them and let me know about your own experiences!