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

Great solutions require both deep work and fast iteration. The Design Sprint compresses months of debate, design, and testing into a single week, creating focus and urgency that eliminates endless discussion.

The foundation: Traditional product development wastes months building the wrong thing. Design Sprints de-risk product decisions by testing with real users before writing production code.

Scoring

Goal: 10/10. When planning or executing a Design Sprint, rate it 0-10 based on adherence to the principles below. A 10/10 means proper structure, time-boxing, prototyping, and user testing; lower scores indicate skipping steps or insufficient testing. Always provide the current score and specific improvements needed to reach 10/10.

The 5-Day Sprint Process

Monday → Tuesday → Wednesday → Thursday → Friday
  Map      Sketch     Decide      Prototype    Test