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