Sandra van der Pal
Manager
Sandra van der Pal is an innovation expert at nlmtd in the Public and Social Domain team. She gets energized by finding innovative solutions for social challenges. With experience as a startup founder, consultant, accelerator builder, and innovation manager, she knows all aspects of (open) innovation. Connection is central to her approach, as collaboration is essential for today’s transitions.
Anna Wendt Spies
Consultant
Anna is a strategic and creative innovation consultant. She thrives at the intersection of business, innovation, technology, and design. Combining analytical insight with a hands-on approach, she guides teams from idea through experimentation to pilots. In doing so, she translates complex issues into practical, impactful solutions and helps shape strategic roadmaps for future growth. With a prototyping mindset and a passion for experimentation and emerging technologies such as AI, she brings curiosity, energy, and collaboration to every project.
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What happens when you bring together end users, experts, and decision-makers for one day and let them build instead of talk?
Last week, we saw once again how quickly you can generate sharp insights and concrete solutions.
For an organization in the public domain, Sandra van der Pal organized a build sprint on behalf of nlmtd, with support from Anna Wendt Spies. In one intensive day, they identified the main bottlenecks with end users, determined what really counts (impact + frequency), and developed solutions into testable prototypes.
The day kicked off with a shared focus: why are we here, and what will be on the table at the end of the day? After that, end-users demonstrated in a live demo what they were really up against. Through structured observation (what works, where it gets stuck, which questions remain unanswered), a clear picture of the daily reality emerged. These insights were immediately translated into a visual user journey, revealing where the real friction lies.
Then they got creative and disciplined: prioritizing, generating ideas, sharing, clustering. After lunch, they moved on to the real building. Teams worked out solution directions, sharpened their value proposition, and built prototypes (mini-MVPs) for immediate testing.
This is where AI came in as a practical accelerator. Anna used AI tools to get from concept to working prototypes. So that there are not just sketches, but interactive, tangible solutions that people can experience, test, and walk through.
And this is precisely what nlmtd helps teams with: human-centered innovation on key transitions. This format brings user insights to the surface, creates focus and decision power, and makes ideas immediately testable – increasingly enhanced by AI.
As such, a construction sprint is not a brainstorming day but an accelerator
Because it is not about processes or frameworks, but about people with an issue and professionals who help them solve it. An efficient day with all stakeholders, working on concrete solutions.
A construction sprint is not a panacea, but it is a proven method to set direction without investing months in plans that may not lead to the desired outcome. It creates broad organizational support because all relevant parties participate. And the result – validated prototypes – provide a concrete direction for further development.
This is what nlmtd supports organizations in: people-centered innovation for transformations that make an impact.
