Innovation Sprints

Innovation Sprints (similar to Design Sprints) bring together a select group of key stakeholders and decision-makers to solve a complex problem, explore a new area, or improve an existing experience. Fresh facilitators guide the group through a workshop-based process of understanding a challenge, generating ideas, prototyping solutions, then testing in front of users to gain actionable insights.

Inspire Action

Tackle complex challenges with innovation sprints

Often innovation challenges are not what they appear. Looking at a problem through multiple perspectives can help uncover new insights that might otherwise be overlooked. The Innovation Sprint process helps build alignment among diverse stakeholders to ignite and validate new thinking that inspires strategic action.

Get Started

Align leadership teams around innovation opportunities

Mitigate risk quickly in a low-stakes, safe situation

Validate innovation concepts quickly with user feedback

Decide on which ideas to support, fund, or invest in

Sprint Process

Conceive, prototype, and test new ideas in one week

Sprints are built on top of a five-phase design thinking process. Groups typically work through one phase per day of the sprint, but the schedule can be adapted to various lengths, depending on client requirements.

Understand

Half Day or Full Day · In-Person

Sprint participants come together to align on the problem at hand. Stakeholders share multiple perspectives through guided discussion, interviews, and group activities. The group agrees upon the problem framing, success, metrics, and long-term goals.

Diverge

1 Day · In-Person or Online via Invent Value

The group generates ideas through divergent thinking to capture as much creativity from the group as possible. Invent Value enables the group to gather ideas from remote team participants or external experts.

Converge

1 Day · In-Person or Online via Invent Value

After initial ideas are generated, the group collaborates on combining ideas into more robust solutions through thematic grouping and extended collaboration. Possible solutions are evaluated against previously-defined goals and the group selects what to prototype.

Prototype

1 Day · In-Person or Completed by Fresh

After converging, the Fresh team facilitates rapid prototyping of the selected solutions. Sprint participants are invited to join in the prototyping process or it can be handled entirely by the Fresh team.

Test

1 Day · In-Person or Completed by Fresh

Prototypes are tested in front of users to gain actionable insights and learnings. Sprint participants are invited to observe testing in-person or review remotely.

Invent Value Included

Collaborate online to gather your team's best thinking

Invent Value is Fresh's digital innovation platform that can engage stakeholders remotely as well as conduct entire portions of the sprint process online, reducing the need for participants to attend multiple workshops in-person.

Learn More

WHY FRESH?

Your partner in end-to-end innovation

Fresh's integrated team can help you generate new ideas as well as move them into market through all phases of the product development process. Our end-to-end capabilities in strategy, design, software, and engineering make us an effective innovation partner.

About Fresh

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Strategy Team

Johnny Rodriguez

Director of Strategic Innovation

Johnny is Fresh’s Director of Strategic Innovation who brings over 13 years of experience in user experience, interaction design, and front-end web development.

He thrives on the challenge of leading interaction design and development as well as usability and best practices, but his primary focus is leading Fresh’s internal product development as well as other strategic initiatives to help Fresh stay fresh.

Johnny has made valuable contributions in the past throughout the end-to-end delivery lifecycle of complex and large-scale technology solutions. Some of his innovative work can be seen on projects involving advanced JavaScript, augmented and virtual reality, WordPress development, AI systems, chatbots, and design language systems.

Maximillian West

Design Strategy Lead

Max brings over 12 years of experience in brand, strategy, and experience design across technology, finance, healthcare, entertainment, and renewable energy sectors working with startups, Fortune 100 companies, and international NGOs.

A leader in Fresh’s strategy and innovation practice, he partners with senior leaders to bring new ideas to life at the intersection of customer experience, innovation, and emerging technology.

Max holds a degree in Economics from Johns Hopkins University. An avid international traveler and radical futurist, Max enjoys architecture, urban planning, political economy, and global food culture.

Nick Parish

Strategy Director

Nick Parish is the Strategy Director at Fresh consulting with over 10 years of experience in his field. Graduating with his degree in Comparative Literature from Fordham University, Nick is an award-winning writer and editor.

Previously, Nick led a strategic consultancy and intelligence publisher as President. Nick has presented on creativity and innovation at SXSW Interactive, Cannes Lions, and TED’s ads Worth Spreading. Nick has also been published in numerous outlets, including New York Magazine, The New York Post and has appeared as a guest on CNN Headline News and Anderson Cooper 360.

Nick and his wife have one daughter and a terrier named Winston. In his free time, Nick loves being outside, gardening, riding bikes, art, and poetry.

Ryan Kelly

Product Director

Ryan Kelly is the Product Director at Fresh Consulting with 15 years of experience in the field. Originally a designer and developer, his experience has helped him discover an ability for balancing many complex factors to deliver sophisticated outcomes for top tier clients.

Ryan has led teams to accomplish major initiatives for Google, Nike, Dropbox, Mailchimp, Krispy Kreme, Nikon, Stripe, and dozens of others.

In his free time, Ryan loves the NBA, South Korean film, gas station food, and arguing about the best Fleetwood Mac record.

Ryan Ottinger

Innovation Consultant

Ryan is an Innovation Consultant with an interdisciplinary career background. Graduating from Standford University with a degree in Symbolic Systems, his coursework included computer science, UX design, and research and statistics.

Before joining Fresh, Ryan worked as a full-stack developer. While at Microsoft, he contributed to the Microsoft Whiteboard product.

Ryan loves talking to people about new technologies, philosophical debates, and gaming. He’s a PC enthusiast and also enjoys discussing hardware, software, or design.

Savannah Rank

Design Strategist

Savannah Rank is a Design Strategist with a background in UX design and brand strategy as both a freelancer and at various startups. She holds a BA in Art from The Ohio State University and has previously worked as a Strategy Lead, UX Design Lead, and Digital Designer.

At Fresh, she focuses on performing research, visualizing and making sense of data, facilitating workshops, and collaboratively iterating on design concepts. Outside her current role, Savannah has experience in project management, business development, building brand identities, and designing websites.

As a fresh transplant from Ohio, Savannah spends the majority of her time exploring Oregon with her husband, Jacob, and her dog, Zissou. When she has free time, she loves to play video games—or let’s be honest, all types of games—work on puzzles, and sketch blind-contour drawings.