Design Sprints for Project Co‑Creation Training Course

Introduction
In an era where speed, inclusion, and innovation are vital for successful development outcomes, NGOs and humanitarian organizations must rethink how they design projects. The Design Sprints for Project Co-Creation Training Course equips professionals with an accelerated, collaborative methodology to solve complex challenges, prototype solutions, and build consensus with diverse stakeholders. Rooted in human-centered design and agile practices, design sprints allow teams to co-create impactful solutions within days—not months—by bringing together users, experts, and decision-makers in structured, time-bound innovation cycles.

This 10-day hands-on training introduces participants to every phase of a design sprint, from defining the right challenge to testing low-fidelity prototypes with real users. Participants will gain practical experience running sprints for program design, policy formulation, and service innovation in NGO settings. With an emphasis on community engagement, creativity, and systems thinking, the course is ideal for teams looking to boost program effectiveness through fast-paced collaboration, while ensuring inclusivity, adaptability, and measurable results.

Duration

10 Days
Target Audience

  • Program and project designers in NGOs
  • Innovation, design, and strategy teams
  • Community engagement and inclusion officers
  • M&E and learning professionals
  • Donor relations and grants development staff

Course Objectives

  • Understand the principles and structure of design sprints in a development context
  • Facilitate co-creation workshops that engage stakeholders in solution building
  • Use sprint techniques to rapidly ideate, prototype, and test project ideas
  • Apply design thinking tools to improve project relevance and usability
  • Integrate design sprint outputs into program planning, MEL, and proposal development

Course Modules

Module 1: Foundations of Design Sprints and Co-Creation

  • What is a design sprint and why use it in NGOs
  • Key principles: empathy, iteration, co-creation
  • Comparison with traditional project design
  • Real-world NGO use cases
  • Understanding the 5-phase sprint model

Module 2: Planning a Design Sprint for Your Context

  • Identifying the right challenge and scope
  • Forming multidisciplinary sprint teams
  • Timeboxing and scheduling a sprint week
  • Tools, templates, and space (physical or virtual)
  • Preparing data, users, and research inputs

Module 3: Understand Phase – Mapping the Problem

  • Stakeholder mapping and systems thinking
  • Reviewing existing data and insights
  • User journey and ecosystem mapping
  • Framing key questions and constraints
  • Creating problem briefs and sprint goals

Module 4: Define Phase – Aligning on a Challenge

  • Prioritizing insights from the understand phase
  • Setting the long-term goal and success metrics
  • Creating “How Might We” questions
  • Identifying risks and assumptions
  • Selecting the sprint challenge focus

Module 5: Ideate Phase – Generating Creative Solutions

  • Brainstorming individually and in teams
  • Sketching and storyboarding solution ideas
  • Using crazy 8s, mind maps, and reverse thinking
  • Voting and clustering ideas
  • Building concept cards and vision boards

Module 6: Decide Phase – Choosing What to Prototype

  • Decision-making frameworks (Dot voting, NUF)
  • Creating solution maps and decision matrices
  • Identifying critical components to test
  • Finalizing user journey and storyboard
  • Allocating sprint roles and tasks

Module 7: Prototype Phase – Rapid Mock-Up Development

  • Tools for low-fidelity prototyping (paper, slides, Figma)
  • Simulating key program features or workflows
  • Creating wireframes, scripts, and mock services
  • Preparing for user testing
  • Ensuring clarity and realism in prototypes

Module 8: Test Phase – Running Feedback Sessions

  • Recruiting representative users or stakeholders
  • Facilitating interviews and observation
  • Capturing insights, reactions, and usability issues
  • Synthesizing feedback and improvement areas
  • Determining fit, pivot, or redesign needs

Module 9: Adapting Sprints for NGO Challenges

  • Co-design with communities and local partners
  • Conducting remote or hybrid design sprints
  • Addressing power, language, and inclusion barriers
  • Applying sprints to project MEL and service design
  • Sprinting in fragile, resource-limited settings

Module 10: Integrating Sprint Outputs into Projects

  • Translating prototypes into project activities
  • Aligning sprint outcomes with logframes and budgets
  • Embedding user-tested features into proposals
  • Linking to agile MEL and adaptive implementation
  • Iterating sprint outputs over time

Module 11: Facilitation Skills for Sprint Leaders

  • Creating safe and creative workshop spaces
  • Managing team dynamics and time pressure
  • Balancing creativity with structure
  • Using templates and visual tools effectively
  • Building facilitator confidence and flexibility

Module 12: Scaling and Sustaining Sprint Capacity in NGOs

  • Building in-house sprint teams and champions
  • Creating sprint playbooks and toolkits
  • Integrating sprints into design and funding cycles
  • Sharing sprint results and stories with donors
  • Sustaining innovation culture through co-creation

CERTIFICATION

  • Upon successful completion of this training, participants will be issued with Macskills Training and Development Institute Certificate

TRAINING VENUE

  • Training will be held at Macskills Training Centre. We also tailor make the training upon request at different locations across the world.

AIRPORT PICK UP AND ACCOMMODATION

  • Airport pick up and accommodation is arranged upon request

TERMS OF PAYMENT

Payment should be made to Macskills Development Institute bank account before the start of the training and receipts sent to info@macskillsdevelopment.com

 

Design Sprints For Project Co‑creation Training Course in Sao Tome and Principe
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