Design SprintCAUTION

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---
name: design-sprint
description: 'Run a structured 5-day process to prototype, test, and validate product ideas with real users. Use when the user mentions "design sprint", "validate before we build", "rapid prototype", "test with users", or "should we build this". Also trigger when a team is stuck in endless debate over a high-stakes product decision, or wants to de-risk a costly idea before investing in development. Covers mapping, sketching, deciding, prototyping, and testing across Monday-Friday. For ongoing experimentation and MVPs, see lean-startup. For customer job analysis, see jobs-to-be-done. For non-leading user interviews, see mom-test.'
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: wondelai
  version: "1.4.0"
---

# Design Sprint Framework

A five-day process for answering critical business questions through design, prototyping, and testing ideas with customers. Developed at Google Ventures and used by Google, Slack, Airbnb, and hundreds of startups.

## Core Principle

**Compress months of debate, design, and testing into one week — and test with real users before writing any production code.** The sprint replaces endless discussion with a fixed Monday-to-Friday spine, hard time-boxes, and a single Decider, so a high-stakes product question gets a real answer in five days instead of five months.

## Scoring

**Goal: 10/10.** Score a sprint plan or execution by awarding 1 point for each item present and correct (10 total). Report the score and the missing items needed to reach 10/10.

1. Decider committed for the full week; one Sprint Master facilitating.
2. Monday produces a target customer and moment (not a vague "test the product").
3. Hard time-boxes used (Crazy 8s in 8 min, 10am-5pm days, no open-ended sessions).
4. Solution sketches done alone and anonymous — no group brainstorming.
5. Wednesday ends with a single Decider Supervote, not consensus.
6. Storyboard specified before any prototype is built.
7. Prototype is a Goldilocks-fidelity facade, testable in 5-15 min, with a trial run done.
8. Exactly 5 target users recruited via screener (6 scheduled to absorb a no-show).
9. Friday uses the Five-Act Interview; users interpret the prototype unexplained.
10. End-of-sprint debrief converts the +/-/~ pattern grid into a decision on next steps.

A plan missing the Decider, real users, or a same-day prototype caps at 6 — those are the failure modes the sprint exists to prevent.

## The 5-Day Sprint Process

```
Monday → Tuesday → Wednesday → Thursday → Friday
  Map      Sketch     Decide      Prototype    Test
```

**Prerequisites:** a big challenge worth a week's focus; the right team (Decider plus 4-7 people with diverse expertise); five full days (10am-5pm) with no interruptions; a dedicated room with whiteboards. One **Sprint Master** facilitates, keeps time, and manages energy.

See [references/facilitation.md](references/facilitation.md) when you are the Sprint Master — it has the full facilitation guide, time-boxing tactics, and energy-management moves for keeping a stuck or low-energy room productive.

## Monday: Map

**Goal:** Understand the problem and choose a target for the week.

### Morning: Start at the End

- **Long-term goal:** Write the optimistic answer to "What do we want to be true in 2 years?" — e.g., "Customers use our product daily."
- **Sprint questions:** List obstacles and unknowns as questions on the whiteboard, whole team contributing — e.g., "Will customers trust us with payment info?"

### Afternoon: Map the Challenge

- **Customer journey map:** List the actors (customer types), then draw the journey left to right in 5-15 steps: "Hears about product → Visits site → Signs up → First use → Regular user."
- **Ask the Experts:** Interview teammates with specialized knowledge (CEO, design, engineering, support, sales); capture notes on the whiteboard.
- **How Might We (HMW):** Rephrase problems as opportunities — "Customers don't understand pricing" → "HMW make pricing immediately clear?" One per sticky note; vote and organize the best on the map.

### End of Day: Pick a Target

Choose which customer and moment on the map to focus on — the biggest risk or opportunity (e.g., "the first 10 minutes after signup"). The **Decider** (person with authority) makes the final call.

**Monday output:** long-term goal, sprint questions, journey map, expert insights, organized HMW notes, target customer and moment.

See [references/monday.md](references/monday.md) while facilitating Monday — step-by-step exercise scripts, HMW examples, and the target-selection method.

## Tuesday: Sketch

**Goal:** Generate solutions — each person sketches a detailed solution.

### Morning: Lightning Demos

- **Find inspiration:** 3-minute demos of competitors and analogous products ("Here's what I found, here's why it's interesting"); capture good ideas on the whiteboard. Borrow from any industry.
- **Divide or swarm:** Split the map between people if it has multiple parts; otherwise everyone tackles the same critical problem (most sprints swarm).

### Afternoon: The Four-Step Sketch

Everyone sketches alone — **no group brainstorming**. Individual work produces better, more diverse ideas.

1. **Notes (20 min):** Silently walk the room reviewing the map, HMWs, and inspiration.
2. **Ideas (20 min):** Rough doodles, mind maps, stick figures — quantity over quality.
3. **Crazy 8s (8 min):** Fold paper into 8 panels and sketch 8 variations in 8 minutes — forces you past your first idea.
4. **Solution Sketch (30-90 min):** A 3-panel storyboard of the customer experience (beginning, middle, end). Make it self-explanatory, give it a catchy title, and keep it **anonymous**.

**Tuesday output:** one detailed, anonymous, self-explanatory solution sketch per person.

See [references/tuesday.md](references/tuesday.md) before the Four-Step Sketch — Crazy 8s and solution-sketch templates plus worked examples to show the team.

## Wednesday: Decide

**Goal:** Critique solutions and choose the best o

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