Design Sprint
The Basic Idea
Let’s say you’ve been working with your team for months to launch a new product. Each team member has been focusing on specific aspects. However, as launch day approaches, you start to feel uncertain about the product’s success. You might feel overwhelmed by the task of summarizing all the work that has been done and ensuring everyone is on the same page. In such scenarios, a structured, focused approach to problem-solving and innovation is often missing.
This is where a “Design Sprint” comes into play. A five-day plan to build and test a prototype to ensure your product will work or find the issues that must be solved before launch day. Design Sprints call for sustained attention and interdisciplinary teamwork over the course of a week to address business challenges.
These five days (or five phases) are divided into the following:
1. Understand/Map: Establish long-term goals as a team.2
2. Sketch: Individual and creative work to develop solutions for goals set on Day 1.3
3. Decide: Critique all solutions from the previous day, pick favorites, and create step-by-step plans.4
4. Prototype: Develop a tangible prototype.5
5. Test: Perform a real-world test and gather feedback.6
The idea is that by the end of the Sprint, you should have a glimpse of how your product will perform and what problems or challenges you should focus on to enhance its performance. This way, you minimize risks and increase the chance of a successful product.
By embracing the principles of a Design Sprint, teams can move from ambiguity to clarity and idea to action in a matter of days—way faster than the usual months or years timeline. It’s about working smarter, not harder, and making significant strides in a project while reducing the time and resources typically needed for development.
It’s kind of like fast-forwarding into the future, so you can see how customers react before you invest all the time and expenses building a real product.
- Jake Knapp, co-creator of the Design Sprint
About the Author
Mariana Ontañón
Mariana holds a BSc in Pharmaceutical Biological Chemistry and a MSc in Women’s Health. She’s passionate about understanding human behavior in a hollistic way. Mariana combines her knowledge of health sciences with a keen interest in how societal factors influence individual behaviors. Her writing bridges the gap between intricate scientific information and everyday understanding, aiming to foster informed decisions.
