# Design Sprint Framework

## Overview
The Design Sprint is a 5-day process developed at Google Ventures (now GV) by Jake Knapp. It's designed to answer critical business questions through rapid prototyping and user testing. The sprint compresses months of work into a single week, helping teams shortcut the endless debate cycle and validate ideas with real users.

## When to Use
- Kick off a new product or feature
- When facing a critical business challenge
- Need to make a major decision quickly
- Want to explore new opportunities
- Before investing significant resources
- When team alignment is needed

## The 5-Day Process

### Monday: Map & Target
**Goal**: Understand the problem and pick a target

**Activities**:
1. **Start at the End**: Define long-term goal and sprint questions
2. **Map**: Create a simple map of the customer journey
3. **Ask the Experts**: Interview stakeholders and experts
4. **Target**: Choose a specific target customer and moment to focus on

**Key Outputs**:
- Long-term goal
- Sprint questions
- Customer journey map
- Target for the sprint

**Time Breakdown**:
- 10am: Introductions and sprint overview
- 10:30am: Long-term goal
- 11:30am: Sprint questions
- 1pm: Map
- 2pm: Ask the Experts
- 4pm: Target

### Tuesday: Sketch
**Goal**: Generate solutions

**Activities**:
1. **Lightning Demos**: Look at existing solutions for inspiration
2. **Divide or Swarm**: Choose to work on one piece or all together
3. **Four-Step Sketch**:
   - Notes (20 min)
   - Ideas (20 min)
   - Crazy 8s (8 min)
   - Solution sketch (30-90 min)

**Key Outputs**:
- Collection of solution sketches
- Detailed storyboards from each team member

**Time Breakdown**:
- 10am: Lightning Demos
- 12pm: Divide or Swarm
- 1pm: Four-step sketch begins
- 4pm: Solution sketches complete

### Wednesday: Decide
**Goal**: Choose the best solutions and create a storyboard

**Activities**:
1. **Art Museum**: Display all solutions
2. **Heat Map**: Silent voting on interesting parts
3. **Speed Critique**: Quick discussion of highlights
4. **Straw Poll**: Everyone picks their favorite
5. **Supervote**: Decider makes final choice
6. **Storyboard**: Create step-by-step plan for prototype

**Key Outputs**:
- Winning solution(s)
- Detailed storyboard for prototype

**Time Breakdown**:
- 10am: Sticky Decision
- 11:30am: Speed Critique
- 1pm: Straw Poll
- 1:30pm: Supervote
- 2pm: Storyboard

### Thursday: Prototype
**Goal**: Build a realistic prototype

**Activities**:
1. **Assign Roles**:
   - Maker(s): Build the prototype
   - Stitcher: Ensure consistency
   - Writer: Create realistic copy
   - Asset Collector: Gather needed materials
   - Interviewer: Prepare for Friday's tests
2. **Build the Prototype**: Focus on the customer-facing surface
3. **Stitch it Together**: Make sure everything flows
4. **Trial Run**: Test internally

**Key Outputs**:
- Realistic prototype
- Interview script
- Testing logistics confirmed

**Tools Often Used**:
- Figma/Sketch (design)
- InVision/Marvel (clickable prototypes)
- Keynote/PowerPoint (quick and dirty)
- Squarespace/Webflow (landing pages)

### Friday: Test
**Goal**: Learn from target customers

**Activities**:
1. **Interviews**: 5 one-on-one interviews
2. **Observe**: Watch customers use the prototype
3. **Take Notes**: Capture reactions and feedback
4. **Learn Together**: Identify patterns
5. **Next Steps**: Decide what to do next

**Key Outputs**:
- Customer feedback patterns
- Validated/invalidated assumptions
- Clear next steps

**Interview Schedule**:
- 9am: Interview #1
- 10am: Interview #2
- 11am: Interview #3
- 1pm: Interview #4
- 2pm: Interview #5
- 3pm: Debrief

## Key Roles

### Decider
- CEO, product manager, or whoever has decision authority
- Makes final calls when team is stuck
- Commits to sprint outcomes

### Facilitator
- Runs the sprint process
- Keeps team on track
- Manages time and energy

### Team Members (5-7 total)
- Designer
- Engineer/Developer
- Product Manager
- Marketing
- Customer Service
- Finance (if relevant)

## Essential Supplies

### Physical
- Whiteboards (lots of them)
- Sticky notes (various colors)
- Markers (thick and thin)
- Dot stickers (for voting)
- Timer
- Snacks and coffee

### Digital
- Prototyping tools
- Video conferencing (for remote)
- Digital whiteboard tools (Miro, Figma)
- Calendar blocking

## Sprint Questions Examples

Good sprint questions help focus the week:
- "Will customers understand our value proposition?"
- "Can we simplify the onboarding process?"
- "Will enterprise customers pay for this feature?"
- "Can we make this 10x better than competitors?"

## Common Variations

### Design Sprint 2.0
- Shortened to 4 days
- Monday activities condensed
- More emphasis on recruiting users early

### Remote Design Sprint
- All activities adapted for video conferencing
- Digital collaboration tools
- Asynchronous elements where possible

### Enterprise Design Sprint
- Extended timeline (2-3 weeks)
- More stakeholders involved
- Additional validation rounds

## Best Practices

### Before the Sprint
1. **Get buy-in**: Ensure leadership support
2. **Clear calendars**: No other meetings
3. **Recruit users**: Start early (2 weeks before)
4. **Prepare space**: Dedicate a war room
5. **Set expectations**: This is about learning, not perfection

### During the Sprint
1. **No devices**: Laptops closed except when needed
2. **Time box everything**: Stick to the schedule
3. **Defer discussions**: Use a "parking lot"
4. **Trust the process**: Even when skeptical
5. **Document everything**: Photos, notes, recordings

### After the Sprint
1. **Share results immediately**: Strike while iron is hot
2. **Plan next steps**: Don't lose momentum
3. **Archive materials**: Future reference
4. **Celebrate**: Acknowledge the team effort

## Common Mistakes

1. **Wrong challenge**: Picking something too big or too small
2. **Missing decider**: No authority to implement results
3. **Too many people**: More than 7 slows progress
4. **Skipping steps**: Each day builds on the previous
5. **Perfect prototype**: Good enough beats perfect
6. **Wrong test users**: Must match target customer
7. **Leading questions**: Let users show you
8. **Ignoring results**: Must act on learnings

## Measuring Success

Success isn't just a validated prototype:
- **Team alignment**: Everyone understands the direction
- **Fast learning**: Months of debates resolved in days
- **Clear next steps**: Know exactly what to do
- **Risk reduction**: Avoided costly mistakes
- **Energy boost**: Team excited about path forward

## Tools and Resources

### Books
- "Sprint" by Jake Knapp
- "Design Sprint" by Richard Banfield

### Online Resources
- designsprintkit.withgoogle.com
- sprintstories.com
- ajsmart.com/design-sprint

### Software
- Figma (collaborative design)
- Miro (digital whiteboard)
- Calendly (user recruiting)
- Zoom (remote testing)

## When NOT to Use Design Sprint

- Problem is already well-understood
- Solution is obvious or mandated
- Can't get the right people
- No budget/authority to implement
- Timeline doesn't allow for it

## Design Sprint vs Other Methods

### vs Lean Startup
- Design Sprint: 5 days, high fidelity prototype
- Lean Startup: Ongoing, multiple experiments

### vs Agile
- Design Sprint: Upfront validation
- Agile: Iterative development

### vs Design Thinking
- Design Sprint: Time-boxed, specific process
- Design Thinking: Flexible, longer timeline

## Real-World Examples

### Slack
Used design sprints to redesign onboarding, resulting in 30% improvement in activation.

### Uber
Validated new driver app features before development.

### Blue Bottle Coffee
Tested online subscription service concept.

### KLM
Improved booking flow, increasing conversions by 25%.

## Modified Sprint Formats

### 3-Day Sprint
- Day 1: Map and Sketch
- Day 2: Decide and Prototype
- Day 3: Test

### Concept Sprint
- Focus on exploring multiple concepts
- Less emphasis on detailed prototype
- More breadth, less depth

### Validation Sprint
- Start with existing prototype
- Focus entirely on testing variations
- Iterate based on feedback

The Design Sprint is powerful because it compresses time, focuses effort, and delivers clear results. It's not right for every situation, but when you need to move fast and reduce risk, it's one of the best tools available.