Use a Design Sprint to Accelerate Solutions

By Stephen Wullschleger | Oct 17th, 2025 | AI Consulting & Implementation, Innovation, management consulting, product development, strategic operations, | 0 Comments

A design sprint is a focused initiative to move from problem to tested solution in five days or less. Learn how a design sprint can reduce development time by unlocking teamwork.

A design sprint is a structured effort to define a clear problem, brainstorm solutions, and test a prototype within a short period of time. The design sprint process can reduce design time by 75%, cut time-to-market in half, and achieve ROI of 300%, according to an IBM study.

The design sprint was pioneered by Google Ventures – which borrowed methods from the Stanford d.School and other sources – to cut through inertia and decision paralysis. They rely on small teams, streamlined processes, and intense focus.

The design sprint owes a large debt to the principles of design thinking, which emphasizes thorough understanding of problems, prototyping, and iterating solutions. Design sprints also borrow from agile initiatives, which leverage short innovation cycles and self-governing teams to reach goals quickly.

This article will examine the process, operation, and results of a design sprint.

The basics of a design sprint

The design sprint process is flexible, not one-size-fits-all. Below we will consider the “typical” design sprint scenario. Your organization may choose to modify the process to suit its individual needs.

Preparing for a design sprint. Preparation is the key to a productive design sprint. Organizers will need to block out a dedicated time period in which team members can focus their attention exclusively on the design sprint. The original design sprint requires five eight-hour business days, but it can be modified to fit into a shorter time frame. It takes one day just to plan in advance one day of design print.

Write the sprint brief. The sprint brief is a written guide for the entire process. It should list goals, deliverables, agendas, and daily schedules. The sprint brief should also include background information and any existing research to accelerate the process.

The design sprint is intended to address a single overarching problem or “Sprint Challenge,” and the sprint brief should focus on that central issue. Beware of framing the issue too narrowly or risk cutting off useful lines of inquiry. For example, asking “how to improve click-through rates” is less useful than asking “how to improve the user experience.” The broader question usually opens more possibilities.

When the issues are contentious or not well defined, a preliminary problem solving workshop can help organizers clarify the issues and identify the “right problem” to be solved.

Assemble the design sprint team. Design sprints involve teams of five to seven people with a cross-functional mix of backgrounds. If your organization needs a larger team, they can be broken into groups of five to seven people. “Teams typically include a UX Designer, a User Researcher, a Product Manager, a Developer, and if possible key members of leadership,” according to Google.

The team will include the people responsible for implementing or realizing the new product or service after the sprint. It should include subject matter experts who can winnow impractical ideas and help develop more useful ones. A decision maker from leadership will have the final say at critical points. Finally, a facilitator from inside or outside the organization can keep the effort focused and on track.

The six phases of a design sprint

The classic design sprint consists of six phases.

Understand: In the Understand phase, team members create a knowledge base to use in solving the central challenge. It will include the materials in the sprint brief, data from expert and user interviews, and the results of team exercises such as user journey mapping.
Define: In the Define phase, the team takes the knowledge gained in the Understand phase to pinpoint the precise problem or challenge to be addressed. The Define phase also establishes goals and metrics to monitor progress. Group exercises help the team define guiding principles and imagine future outcomes.
Sketch: In the Sketch phase, each team member is asked to generate as many ideas as possible. One helpful exercise is “Crazy 8s,” in which each team member sketches eight ideas in eight minutes with the goal of moving from predictable to imaginative solutions. The rationale is that if people are pushed outside of their comfort zone, more creative ideas emerge. The team narrows these ideas down by selecting a single ‘Solution Sketch” from 8 per person.
Decide: In the Decide phase, the team selects a single solution for prototyping and testing. The process starts by giving each team member five minutes to present their Solution Sketch and describe their ideas. Exercises to identify and question the assumptions underlying each solution can help the group choose. Group exercises and a leadership decision results in a final choice.
Prototype: In the Prototype phase, the team collaborates to create a model of the chosen solution. Prototyping often begins by creating a storyboard to help the team picture the user experience and coalesce around a final design. The final prototype has been described as a “façade” or mock-up of the user experience with just enough detail to obtain useful feedback.
Validate: The Validate phase is the culmination of the design sprint process. The team gathers feedback from five or six intended end users of the product or service. Exercises such as Usability Studies track how end users interact with the prototype. Technical and feasibility reviews are other possible sources of validation data.

Using the results of the design sprint

The design sprint is not the end of the development process. Planning for the next steps should begin before the sprint starts and take into account different possible outcomes, which one article describes as including:

“A successful failure” that provides useful information while avoiding the time and expense of pursuing the wrong product or solution.
“A flawed win” that shows what works, what needs improvement, and the reasons for each outcome.
“A resounding victory” that paves the way for the development of a new product or service.

A “successful failure” provides data the organization can apply to a new round of problem solving. The team may benefit from testing underlying assumptions using analytical thinking techniques to arrive at the right solution to the right problem.

A “flawed win” is a solution that can be developed further with testing and iteration, using the principles of design thinking. While the design sprint may not have generated a complete solution, it will have moved development forward significantly in days rather than weeks or months.

A “resounding victory” means the prototype met the goals of the Sprint Challenge and solved user problems. As a mere mockup, there are still details to be refined. While the organization now has a path forward, the solution is not yet fully realized. But the organization can invest in a full prototype knowing that the solution has been largely “de-risked” via the design sprint.

Whatever the results of a design sprint, the team should thoroughly document each step to preserve the data and lessons learned for future use.

If you would like to learn more about running a design sprint, please contact us.