Design sprint
A five-day process in which a small team understands a problem, proposes solutions, chooses one, prototypes it, and tests it with five customers.
What it’s for
Important decisions drag on in meetings without anyone checking anything with customers.
Phases
Monday: understand
Map of the problem and goal.
Tuesday: sketch
Each person draws solutions, with Crazy 8s.
Wednesday: decide
One is chosen and told in a storyboard.
Thursday: prototype
A prototype that looks real on the surface, even if nothing works underneath.
Friday: test
Interviews with five customers.
How it’s done
A small team meets for five days in a row.
From Monday to Thursday it understands the problem, sketches, decides and prototypes.
On Friday the prototype is tested with five customers.
Applications in design
When to use it
When facing a big, risky decision that has to be made soon.
Avoid
Running a sprint for small things that can simply be decided.
Don’t fall for it
Five interviews on a Friday are not a definitive validation: they are a first signal.
Connections
Authors and works
- 2016
Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, and Braden Kowitz
Described the five-day sprint they used at Google Ventures with startups.
Sources
Original sources
- Knapp, J., Zeratsky, J., & Kowitz, B. (2016). Sprint: How to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days. Simon & Schuster.
Last reviewed: