design-sprint
Design Sprint
What It Is
A Design Sprint is a five-day process for answering critical business questions through design, prototyping, and testing with customers. Developed by Jake Knapp at Google Ventures (now GV), it has been used by teams at Slack, Uber, Airbnb, LEGO, the New York Times, and hundreds of startups.
The core insight: Instead of debating ideas for months then building for months, compress everything into one week. By Friday, you'll have tested a realistic prototype with real customers and know whether you're on the right track.
A Design Sprint changes the defaults of how teams work:
- Instead of endless brainstorming: structured individual sketching
- Instead of design by committee: one Decider with authority
- Instead of building real products: realistic "fake" prototypes
- Instead of launching and hoping: testing with 5 target customers
When to Use It
Use a Design Sprint when:
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strategic-narrative
Use when asked to "strategic narrative", "Andy Raskin", "tell our company story", "write a pitch deck", "explain why customers should care", or "movement narrative". Helps craft compelling narratives that define movements rather than just selling products. The Strategic Narrative framework (created by Andy Raskin) transforms pitches from feature lists into stories about change.
34thinking-in-bets
Use when asked to "thinking in bets", "make decisions under uncertainty", "think probabilistically", "avoid resulting", "separate decision quality from outcomes", or "reduce bias in decisions". Helps make explicit bets and evaluate decisions on process, not results. The Thinking in Bets framework (from Annie Duke) applies poker strategy to business and life decisions.
32okrs
Use when asked to "set OKRs", "objectives and key results", "quarterly OKR planning", "align objectives", "measure OKR progress", or "focus priorities with OKRs". Helps teams focus on what matters most and create a cadence of progress. The OKR framework (originated by Andy Grove at Intel, popularized by John Doerr at Google) creates alignment, focus, and learning cycles. Christina Wodtke's Radical Focus approach emphasizes simplicity and avoiding common pitfalls.
31hierarchy-of-engagement
Use when asked to "define our core action", "North Star metric", "accruing benefits", "improve retention mechanics", "hierarchy of engagement", or "Sarah Tavel framework". Helps consumer products identify the actions and benefits that drive long-term retention. The Hierarchy of Engagement framework (created by Sarah Tavel at Benchmark) maps progression from core action to mounting loss.
26hooked-model
Use when asked to "build habit-forming products", "Hooked model", "trigger action reward investment", "create sticky behavior loops", or "design habit loops". Helps design products that form unprompted user habits. The Hooked Model (created by Nir Eyal) explains how products create habits through Trigger, Action, Variable Reward, and Investment.
25growth-loops
Use when asked to "growth loops", "build a growth engine", "design a viral loop", "create a content loop", "move beyond paid acquisition", or "why isn't growth compounding". Helps design self-reinforcing growth systems where output becomes input. The Growth Loops framework (from Brian Balfour / Reforge and Elena Verna) shifts thinking from linear funnels to compounding loops.
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