How Adobe used a Design Sprint to solve a key customer pain point.


The Challenge

Adobe has a complex portfolio of apps that are available on wide range of devices.

Their team wanted to explore how to provide their customers with relevant content to help them complete tasks by showing them the proper tool.

Adobe had identified this as a significant pain point for users, but the problem hadn’t received dedicated focus yet.


The Method

Adobe set out on a five-day Design Sprint facilitated by Voltage Control.

Signs of a successful Design Sprint.
Signs of a successful Design Sprint.

“Optimizing user journeys across product offerings and devices is a complex challenge. The structure of the design sprint enabled the team to hone in on the crux of the problem from a user perspective and walk away with an actionable strategy.” — Ambar Munoz, Senior Product Manager, Adobe

Our Sprint Schedule

  • DAY 1: We agreed on a goal, refined the target, mapped the problem space, and interviewed experts.
  • DAY 2: We examined analogous solutions from other companies and sketched ideas.
  • DAY 3: We combined ideas, chose a solution to prototype, and created a storyboard of the customer’s journey with Adobe’s product.
  • DAY 4: We assigned individual roles and worked together to prototype the solution and plan interviews.
  • DAY 5: We showed the prototype to real users, got feedback, took notes individually, and compared these notes looking for consensus and insights.
Design Sprint 1
Design Sprint 2
Design Sprint 3

In only 5 days with Voltage Control, Adobe was able to accomplish a notable amount. One week of focused, collaborative work will fuel the next iterations of their prototype.


The Adobe team storyboarding and prototyping.
The Adobe team storyboarding and prototyping.
The Adobe team storyboarding and prototyping.

Three Key Takeaways

  1. REVEALED insights about tasks users are looking to accomplish with many different types of devices.
  2. ACHIEVED a better understanding of how colleagues and teammates are working and discussing projects.
  3. ALIGNED on a new mobile strategy within the current business plan to shift focus toward user’s desires to learn.