Hi,

I don’t usually send newsletters on a Saturday night. But Anna’s working, I’ve just wrapped up a week-long design sprint with Matthew, and my parents arrive tomorrow to stay for the week. So I’m writing now — because sometimes, you take the quiet window when you get it.

About that design sprint…

Most design sprints feel like a race. Five days. Tight schedule. Lots of sticky notes. You sprint through ideas, rush into prototypes, squeeze in feedback, and then — almost inevitably — end up wondering what you actually learned.

This time, we tried something different.

Instead of jumping in, we started by listening. Two full weeks talking to users before we designed anything. When we did start prototyping, we kept things deliberately rough. Lo-fi enough that no one mistook it for finished work. And instead of cramming everything into a week, we gave ourselves space. Space to test, reflect, revise.

What surprised me most was how much better the feedback got when the prototype looked unfinished. Users didn’t hesitate to critique it. And because we weren’t rushing, we could actually do something with what they told us.

We still called it a sprint, but it didn’t feel like one. It felt more like a conversation — with the team, with users, with the product itself. And paradoxically, by slowing down, we moved faster.

That might be the real lesson: if you want to go fast, stop sprinting.

→ Designing less to learn more​

​
More again soon,

Anton

Also: updated the header image. A reader (hi Benjamin) pointed out the memoji felt off-brand. Fair. I’m personal and honest — but not a memoji.

Still unsure I’ll keep the new one. Let’s see how it feels.

Two quotes

1. Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. It doesn’t have to be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter.
   ​
   Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but ‘steal’ some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be.
   ​
2. We call it the Ice Cream Principle. Tell 10 people to go get ice cream with one condition: they all have to agree on one flavor. That flavor is going to be chocolate or vanilla every time. Groups of people don't agree on what's cool or interesting, they agree on what's easy to agree on. Don't pick a name strictly because it's the top vote-getter.