Sparking Ideas with Lightning Demos
Great ideas don’t appear out of nowhere. They are a combination of inspirations and existing ideas that come together to form a solution that’s unique and effective.
In a sprint, these inspirations are gathered by team members from a variety of sources and presented to the group in an exercise called Lightning Demos.
What are Lightning Demos?
Lightning Demos are a way for the team to collect ideas from existing products and services that can inspire solutions in the sketching phase.
The article How to Use Lightning Demos to Solve Big Product Issues by Chris Freeman explains, “Lightning demos are a number of quick-fire show-and-tell demonstrations between various team members presenting existing solutions in the industry or wider marketplace that solve the given problem” (Freeman).
Demo Structure
Either during 25-30 minutes of day 2 or given as homework after day 1, team members will research other products and services to come up with a list of ideas. They will then narrow down to the 1 or 2 they think are most valuable. Next, each person will have 3 minutes to presents the ideas and why they think they are good. Another person, such as the facilitator, will note down these points on the whiteboard.
Demo sketch, credit Jake Knapp
SPRINT: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days by Jake Knapp with Braden Kowitz and John Zeratsky says, “Your three-minute Lightning Demos will go by quickly, and you don’t want to rely on short-term memory to keep track of all the good ideas. Remember the ‘Always be capturing’ mantra and take notes on the whiteboard as you go. Start by asking the person who’s giving the tour, ‘What’s the big idea here that might be useful?’ Then make a quick drawing of that inspiring component, write a simple headline above it, and note the source underneath” (Knapp, Jake, et al. 100).
Good Ideas in Unlikely Places
While researching, it is easy to look at businesses and products that are similar to what the sprint is for. However, this limits the wide range of original solutions that could be possible.
SPRINT explains, “This exercise is about finding raw materials, not about copying your competitors. We’ve found limited benefit in looking at products from the same industry. Time and time again, the ideas that spark the best solutions come from similar problems in different environments” (Knapp, Jake, et al. 96).
The ideas that spark the best solutions come from similar problems in different environments
The team should also look within their own organization for ideas that may have been abandoned or left unfinished. They might hold potential for the current problem and provide a starting point that already has progress.
And remember, “You don’t need to debate at this stage. Just let the ideas flow and get their time to breathe. Decision and debate can take place at a separate stage as it otherwise hampers ideation” (Freeman).
Sources:
Freeman, Chris. “How to Use Lightning Demos to Solve Big Product Issues” pixeltree, 21 Sept. 2023, pixeltreemedia.co.uk/how-to-use-lightning-demos-to-solve-big-product-issues/.
Knapp, Jake, et al. SPRINT: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days Bantam Press, 2016.
