Challenge Projects are part, well, challenging, two parts frustrating, and, when executed well, inevitably rewarding. Regardless of their background, all fellows go through a learning curve on how to most efficiently tackle the topics we are asked to address during the course of our Challenges, especially while still acting within the required Design Thinking Framework. So, for the benefit of future fellows, here’s a few tips and tricks I’ve picked up this year that have helped me improve my own teams’ efficiency and ultimately provide a better end product for our partners.

1) Empathy Stage: Plan Communication and, ultimately, LIMIT the amount of interviews your team initiates.

This first one may seem a bit counter-intuitive. After all, isn’t the whole point to get as much feedback from community members as possible? Yes and No. I’ve quickly realized that in order for a polished end product to emerge, you’ve got to dedicate multiple hours across your Fridays to not just meeting with your community stakeholders, but also working (as a team, preferably in the same room) towards multiple iterations of your potential end product. The more time you’re able to spend working as a team, the more tangible (and potentially implementable) your final product will be. Finding the balance between empathy and “doing” is a fine line that many struggle with.

2) Ideation Stage:

The goal of this stage is to field as many ideas as possible, yes. But, again, these projects work on a dramatically accelerated timeline that requires efficiency, realism, and a healthy dose of self control. Hour long brainstorming sessions? Have at it. Spending an entire morning/afternoon/both just coming up with endless possibilities when you should be making the call on a path to move down? Usually a good recipe for falling behind on your project.

3) Prototypes:

Building out multiple prototypes has been the absolute key to what I consider my most successful projects. Frankly, this piece tends to get skipped because of a backlog of too much Empathy/Ideation. On any given project, I would consider delegating as much time as possible for creation stages.

In general, these projects are all about time management, delegation, creativity, work ethic, and a positive attitude. Utilizing the above strategies can only help, whether facing a 5 week challenge CD style or an accelerated timeline for a project in general.