Sprint
Jake Knapp · 2016
Innovation
How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Jake Knapp developed the design sprint at Google Ventures to compress months of debate and development into a single week. Map the problem on Monday, sketch solutions on Tuesday, decide on Wednesday, prototype on Thursday, and test with real users on Friday.
Context & Background
Written with John Zeratsky and Braden Kowitz, Sprint codified the process that Google Ventures uses with its portfolio companies. The five-day framework solves a fundamental problem: teams spend too long debating ideas in the abstract when they could be testing them with real users.
The Design Sprint structure: Monday (map the problem and pick a target), Tuesday (sketch competing solutions), Wednesday (decide on the best solution through structured voting), Thursday (build a realistic prototype), Friday (test with five real users and learn). The process forces decisions through time constraints and structured exercises rather than endless meetings.
Design sprints have been adopted by organizations worldwide, from startups to the United Nations. Google uses sprints internally and the format has been adapted for everything from product design to organizational strategy. The book made rapid prototyping and user testing accessible to teams without design backgrounds.
Quotes from Sprint
Related Books
The Innovator's Dilemma
Clayton M. Christensen
Same genre — complementary perspectives on Innovation
The Lean Startup
Eric Ries
Essential reading in Innovation
Good to Great
Jim Collins
Complementary insights from Strategy
The E-Myth Revisited
Michael E. Gerber
Related perspective from Entrepreneurship