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Beyond the Prototype

A roadmap for navigating the fuzzy area between ideas and outcomes

By Douglas Ferguson

Have you ever struggled to move a key innovation project forward at work? Based on his experiences running Design Sprints for top companies, Douglas Ferguson wrote Beyond the Prototype to offer practical advice for people shifting from discovery to realization. Full of stories from companies like Google, Liberty Mutual, and Adobe, this guide outlines six steps that every team should take to launch their vision.

About the author

Douglas Ferguson

Douglas is an entrepreneur and human-centered technologist with over 20 years of experience. He is the founder and president of Voltage Control, an Austin-based facilitation agency that specializes in helping teams work better together through participatory decision making and design inspired facilitation techniques. He has helped transform teams from U.S. SOCOM, the Air Force, Adobe, Dropbox, Fidelity, Vrbo, Liberty Mutual, Humana, and SAIC.

Douglas is a thought leader and master facilitator of Design Sprints, Innovation Acceleration, Team Alignment, Meeting Systems, Culture Transitions, and Change Transformations. He is also the author of three books: Beyond the Prototype, How to Remix Anything (co-authored), and Start Within (co-authored).

Motivated by a mission to rid the world of horrible meetings and offer meaningful meetings in their place, Voltage Control is calling upon fellow facilitators to transform meeting and innovation culture. From free weekly community meetups to Control the Room–the annual facilitator summit, Voltage Control is building a community of facilitators to change the world.

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Chapter Overview

Practical advice for moving your innovation project forward

Chapter 1

Intro & Design Sprint 101

An overview of the process

Chapter 2

The Post-Sprint Slump

Why teams struggle after a sprint

Chapter 3

Wrap it Up

Unpack what you learned

Chapter 4

Share Your Story

Show what you accomplished

Chapter 5

Chart the Course

Formulate the path forward

Chapter 6

Expand the Inner Circle

Gather the right perspectives and skills

Chapter 7

Cultivate the Culture

Inspire the sprint mindset

Chapter 8

Get Guidance

Know when to reach out to the experts

Chapter 9

Expert Tips for Planning Superb Sprints

A bonus Chapter

The Books

Bring Your Ideas to Life

Innovation can seem complex or reserved for the exceptional. But we believe innovation is for everyone. We’ve set out to illuminate a path for you to generate bold ideas, visualize and share them, overcome obstacles, and turn them into reality. Our books are equal parts guidebook and stories from years of experience helping companies adopt an innovation mindset and culture. They’re practical & actionable, so you can get started now. We hope they’ll help you on your journey to realizing your biggest, boldest ideas.