Sprint: How to Solve Big

Problems and Test New

Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide by Course Hero

process.
What's Inside
ABOUT THE TITLE
The title Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1 in Just Five Days describes the five-day process of turning a
problem into a testable prototype solution.
a Main Ideas .................................................................................................... 1

d In Context .................................................................................................... 2

a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3 a Main Ideas

k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 4

c Chapter Summaries ................................................................................ 6 Visual Representation

g Quotes ......................................................................................................... 14
m Glossary ...................................................................................................... 17
One of the key factors in a sprint is visual representation:
shared knowledge, questions, ideas, and plans posted for the
entire team to see. The sprint team ideally accomplishes this
with two giant whiteboards on which they capture ideas from
the first moments of the sprint until the prototype is planned

j Book Basics and executed. The whiteboards have several benefits. They
act as "shared brains" for the team, recording the entire
process and eliminating strain on team members' short-term
AUTHOR
memory. Further, visual representation eliminates the need for
Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz
lengthy debate or explanations, which have no place in the
fast-paced sprint process.
YEAR PUBLISHED
2016
Sketching is an important part of the sprint's visual
representations. Team members don't need advanced artistic
GENRE
skills, but they do need to sketch their ideas. The sketching
Economics, Self-Help
process allows team members to brainstorm their best ideas
AT A GLANCE individually and then merge them to create one best final idea.
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just The sketching process also breaks down the project into
Five Days introduces a five-day solution-researching process, stages, which makes the daunting task of creating a solution
called a sprint, for addressing problems organizations face. more manageable.
During the sprint, a team collaborates on a solution and then
solicits customer reactions. The book is divided into the five
days of the sprint and serves as a do-it-yourself guide for
either the facilitator—the person who manages the sprint
process—or anyone else interested in understanding the
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide In Context 2

No Distractions
Sprints are dedicated five-day periods during which a team
commits to focus on a single goal. Because of the short time
line, a sprint requires intense concentration. This intensity is
key to the rapid development of a prototype to test a solution.
To prevent distractions, team members generally cannot use
personal electronic devices in the sprint room. However,
participants are free to leave the room at any time to use their
devices and can also use them during scheduled breaks.
The Decider
d In Context
Product Design and
Development
Sprint details one protocol for design thinking, a process that
helps organizations understand customers, ask questions,
redefine problems, and create prototypes to test solutions.
Design thinking is a five-phase, repetitive process. It involves a
repeated sequence aimed at getting closer to a desired result.
The process works as follows:

Empathize by researching the users' needs.

The sprint process relies on a Decider to make ultimate
Define the needs by stating the problem.
decisions. The Decider should be the team member who
Form an idea by challenging assumptions.
knows the most about the goal or has the most at stake in the
Prototype (create an original model) as you begin to create
sprint process. This is often the CEO, marketing director, or
a solution.
someone similar. The Decider is key because the five-day time
Test prototypes (models).
line doesn't allow for lengthy debates or rabbit holes; the
Decider helps prevent such pitfalls. Because the Decider has a
Design thinking puts the focus on the customer, allowing the
thorough understanding of the problem, they can end debates
team to design and test solutions that improve the customer
by making a decision. The Decider is especially important on
experience. This process has become popular with the rise of
Day 1, when the problem is determined, and Day 3, when the
technology organizations, especially start-ups (new business
solution is chosen.
enterprises), and is considered key to the success of high-
profile companies such as Google, Apple, and Airbnb. Its
iterative, or repeating, nature means that teams are constantly
Reverse Engineering revisiting steps in the process to redefine, revise, and alter the
way they work.
The sprint process begins and ends with a problem to be
solved for a customer. This is accomplished on Monday and A key part of design thinking is prototyping solutions. There
throughout the week by focusing on the "set the stage" are three approaches to prototyping:
moment when the customer first interacts with the prototype.
Throwaway, or rapid, prototypes inform but do not provide a
For example, in the robot test at Savioke Labs, the team
final solution. Throwaway prototypes are used to explore
determined that moment to be when the hotel customer
ideas, gain feedback, and answer questions. They can
opened the door for the robot room service. The question was
establish possibilities and serve as meaningful tools to walk
whether the customer would be uncomfortable interacting with
users through solutions or processes.
a nonverbal robot. This focus on the potential problem allowed
Incremental prototypes are like building blocks, with new
the team to reverse engineer a successful prototype that
components added over time based on the design solution.
responded to the moment of initial interaction. Every step in
Users can test the prototype and provide feedback as
the sprint process is aimed at the moment the customer meets
components are added or fixed.
the product.
Evolutionary prototypes develop a mature product through
phases in the prototype's development. These prototypes
work much like a writer's drafting process. During
prototyping, problems are identified and fixed, yielding final

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Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide
solutions.
The authors' approach to product design in Sprint follows
design thinking fairly closely, using a shortened and scripted
timetable. Like design thinking, a sprint focuses on customer
experience, and the sprint process generally follows the same
five phases. However, a sprint lasts just five days, with each
phase essentially assigned to one day of the workweek. This
tight, self-imposed deadline adds to the intensity of the
creative process and innovation. Sprint promotes the
throwaway prototype, based on a lot of planning,
brainstorming, and sketching, and the prototype in a sprint is
built from start to finish in just one day. Like a throwaway
prototype, a sprint prototype does not make up the final
solution; rather, the prototype gauges the customer's
interaction with it.
Google Ventures
Google Ventures (GV) is a venture capital fund backed by
Google. Launched in 2009, the fund invests in North American
and European start-up companies with high potential. Venture
capital is money invested in an innovative project with a high
element of risk and a high potential for return. Venture capital
is typically a short-term investment in a fledgling company until
the company grows enough to provide returns.
GV works in the fields of life science, health care, artificial
intelligence, robotics, transportation, cybersecurity, and
agriculture, among others. It may offer some companies seed
money to kickstart an idea; it may offer others tens of millions
of dollars. GV includes a team of engineers, designers,
scientists, marketers, investors, and other professionals who
provide value and knowledge to the complex innovation they
fund. GV is unique in the venture capital field because of its
access to Google products, ideas, and
employees—purportedly the best of the best in talent and
technology.
Sprint authors Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, and Braden Kowitz
worked for GV, using processes they perfected at Google to
hone the sprint process. Along with Michael Margolis, a
research partner at GV, they have led countless start-ups and
other businesses in design sprints to test ideas, products,
services, and experiences.
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Author Biography 3
The Ocean's Eleven Metaphor
The authors of Sprint compare a sprint to a dangerous and
risky heist in the vein of the 2001 action movie Ocean's Eleven.
The film stars American actor George Clooney (b. 1961) as
Danny Ocean, a charismatic thief who assembles a team of 11
professional criminals to pull off a massive hotel-casino theft.
Each team member has a special role, such as pickpocket,
acrobat, or explosives expert. Likewise, a sprint team needs a
Danny Ocean-like mastermind, known as the Decider, and a
specialized team of experts who work together, each playing a
specific role in the effort. Unlike Danny Ocean's team, a sprint
functions best with seven members, but the way the two teams
function is similar.
The authors use the Ocean's Eleven metaphor throughout the
book to describe various roles and activities in the sprint. Each
team member makes a key contribution to the prototype
design or product, leading up to the moment on Friday when
the customer interacts with and reacts to the prototype. The
authors compare this moment to the thieves from Ocean's
Eleven after their heist, as they watch the fountain at the hotel
they have robbed.
a Author Biography
Jake Knapp
Jake Knapp created the Design Sprint during his 10 years at
Google and Google Ventures (GV). While there, he used the
sprint process to develop products such as Gmail, Google
Hangouts, Google Chrome, and Google Search. Since
perfecting the sprint, he has coached teams from
organizations across America, including Slack, Uber, LEGO,
23andMe, and the New York Times Company. Knapp is the
coauthor of the New York Times best seller Sprint (2016) and
Make Time (2018), a book about redesigning time.
John Zeratsky
John Zeratsky is a tech designer turned writer and sprint
coach. He designed for tech companies such as YouTube,
Google, and GV, where he served as the in-house copywriter,
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide
editor, and content strategist and created the GV library. He
also helped develop and refine the sprint process with nearly
200 start-ups. While perfecting the sprint process, Zeratsky
developed an interest in redesigning time, a topic he explores
as coauthor of Sprint and Make Time. His major contributions
to the sprint process revolve around the idea of reverse
engineering—starting at the end and focusing on measuring
results with the business's key metrics. Zeratsky's ideas have
been published by the Wall Street Journal, TIME, Harvard
Business Review, and others.
Braden Kowitz
Braden Kowitz is a designer who helped create the sprint
process. Kowitz was an early designer at Google, beginning in
2005, and led the development of projects such as Google for
Business, Google Spreadsheets, and Google Trends. He also
contributed to the Gmail design team.
As design partner at Google Ventures, he worked with start-
ups on sprint concepts such as listening to customers, scaling
design teams, and building processes that support both
innovation and success. Kowitz cofounded Range, a workplace
tool suite that helps large teams collaborate digitally. With his
GV team, he began writing design articles, a project that grew
into the book Sprint. Additionally, he is a writer and speaker; he
has spoken at design and start-up conferences worldwide.
k Plot Summary
Sprints are microbursts of productivity that provide critical
feedback on an idea. Google employees developed sprints as
they worked on projects such as Gmail; the process has since
proved successful at companies ranging from small start-ups
to major corporations. Sprints are geared toward development
and design, but they have been used for many other business
challenges as well.
During a sprint, a team commits to spending five full workdays
in one room. The team starts the week by identifying a goal,
and over the next four days it develops a prototype to test. On
the fifth day, team members test the prototype to get real-time
feedback from customers on whether it will work.
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Plot Summary 4
Monday
On Monday the project begins. The team members assemble
to make a map of the challenge ahead. First, they have a
structured discussion to agree on the long-term goal so that
they can plan with this end in mind. Then they ask
experts—either internal organizational experts or others
outside the company—to share what they know and explain
what is missing from the team's initial map. Finally, the team
chooses a target—an important piece of the challenge they
can tackle in one week. The Decider, the person who provides
the final say in the project, must agree with the team's stated
target.
Tuesday
On Tuesday the team seeks solutions. First, team members
review existing ideas. Often the best ideas are old ideas that
have been improved. Individuals take notes to gather key info,
and then they sketch rough solutions. Team members create
many variations of their best solutions before creating a sketch
prototype to present to the team.
Wednesday
The team waits until Wednesday to critique the sketches
members presented on Tuesday afternoon. They discuss
which sketch to turn into a prototype, or which sketches to
combine into the prototype. After deciding on a sketch, the
team creates a customer storyboard that includes product
discovery, purchase, use, and disposal.
Thursday
On Thursday the team creates a basic prototype for Friday's
test. The prototype does not have to be fully functional; it
simply needs to provide customers an accurate experience. If
the prototype is on a screen or paper, team members can
create a mock-up with PowerPoint, Keynote, or a website-
building tool. If the prototype is a service, the sprint team can
create a script and serve as actors. If the prototype involves a
physical space such as a storefront or office, team members
can modify an existing room.
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide Plot Summary 5

Friday
On Friday the team tests the solution's prototype by
interviewing customers and observing them interact with it.
Five customers will identify 85 percent of problems. As team
members observe the interaction, they record feedback with
questions. At the end of the test, the team will be able to
determine whether the prototype is a success.

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Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
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c Chapter Summaries
Preface
Summary
After Jake Knapp and his wife had a child, Knapp yearned
for his time at work to be as meaningful as time with his
family. When he analyzed his work habits, he noticed "I
wasn't spending my effort on the most important work." He
decided to start "optimizing" his workdays, making
spreadsheets and to-do lists. "Yes, all of this was weird," he
acknowledges. "But little by little, I got more focused and
more organized."
When Knapp got a job with Google, he began experimenting
with processes for teams, beginning with group
brainstorming sessions, but these sessions felt ineffective.
He noticed the best ideas generally came from individuals
rather than groups. Knapp tried to figure out why. He
realized that he himself had all his best ideas "when I had a
big challenge and not quite enough time."
Knapp reconsidered group workshops, adding several
"magic ingredients": focusing on individual work, creating a
prototype, and setting a hard deadline. He called this new
process a sprint. Knapp led sprints for Google teams
working on Gmail, Chrome, and Google Search, and the idea
worked. Over time Knapp fine-tuned the sprint, adjusting the
time line, number of participants, and other details.
Knapp was invited to join the team at Google Ventures (GV),
a venture capital firm associated with Google, to runs
sprints with start-ups in GV's portfolio. He began running
sprints with three coworkers at GV: John Zeratsky and
Braden Kowitz, who cowrote Sprint, and Michael Margolis, a
research partner at the firm. They perfected the process
along the way with the help of Daniel Burka, an
entrepreneur now working at GV. At first Burka thought
sprints sounded like "a bunch of management mumbo
jumbo," but soon he became a believer.
Knapp says sprints are a way to "solve big problems, test
new ideas, get more done, and do it faster." They're also
exhilarating.
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Chapter Summaries 6
Introduction
Summary
The company Savioke Labs, one of Google Ventures'
investments, engineered a three-and-a-half-foot-tall robot,
known as Relay robot, to provide hotel delivery service. The
robot was designed to carry clean towels, toothbrushes,
and anything else a guest might require. Savioke Labs
wasn't sure how hotel guests would feel about interacting
with a nonverbal robot. Would it make them nervous or
uncomfortable? The company wanted to find out what
features might make the Relay robot most appealing to
guests.
The Savioke team decided to complete a sprint. Team
members focused on one question: "How should [the] robot
behave around humans?" They focused on the moment
when robot and guest first meet. They created a map to
identify risks, decided on a solution to test—having the robot
deliver just one toothbrush to one room—built the prototype,
and ultimately tested their idea. The team decided the robot
would do a dance when it was "happy." Steve Cousins,
Savioke's founder and CEO, said, "I'm still nervous about
giving it too much personality. But this is the time to take
risks."
The Savioke team's sprint was a success; their test
customers loved the robot prototype. Through the
collaborative sprint process, the team developed ideas,
tested them, and achieved their goal.
Good ideas and execution can be difficult, but "the sprint
gives our startups a superpower," say the authors. Sprints
allow companies to preview a finished product and
customer reactions, mitigating risks outside the weeklong
process.
Sprint is a do-it-yourself (DIY) guide to running a sprint. On
Monday, team members map problems and choose a focus.
On Tuesday they sketch solutions. On Wednesday they
make a final decision about the prototype they'll create on
Thursday. On Friday the team members test the solution
with customers. The authors note that "You won't finish with
a complete, detailed, ready-to-ship product." That's not the
purpose of a sprint. Instead, it will help you "know for sure if
you're headed in the right direction."
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
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Set the Stage, Challenge
Summary
Sprints are ideal for beginning long-term projects such as
websites. One example is the site of Blue Bottle Coffee, a
successful company run by entrepreneur James Freeman.
After consulting with John Zeratsky and Braden Kowitz,
Freeman and his team began a sprint to improve their online
store, which sells fresh coffee beans.
In the Monday sprint kickoff, team members zoomed in on
one idea: "The online store should match the hospitality of
the [Blue Bottle] cafés." Then they began sketching ideas
for the site. Soon they had three prototypes to test. By
Friday they had a new website design based on the winning
prototype. Ultimately, Blue Bottle Coffee doubled online
sales with its new site.
Sprints are a way to solve several challenging situations:
high-stakes projects involving big problems and expensive
solutions, tight deadlines, and being "just plain
stuck"—lacking the ideas to move forward.
No project is too big to benefit from a sprint. For example,
Graco is a multinational company that makes pumps and
sprayers. It was developing a new kind of industrial pump,
one that would take a long time and millions of dollars to
design and manufacture. It was a very complex undertaking,
but a team of engineers used the five-day sprint to "answer
big questions, before the pump even existed." A sprint
"forces your team to focus on the most pressing questions"
and "allows you to learn from just the surface of a finished
product."
Sprint teams should focus first on customers and then
consider what systems need to be put into place.
Set the Stage, Team
Summary
Sprints mirror the plot of the 2001 heist movie Ocean's
Eleven, in which a criminal mastermind named Danny Ocean
guides a team of ex-convicts to pull off a hotel-casino
robbery: "A sprint resembles that perfectly orchestrated
heist. ... To pull it off you need the right team."
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Chapter Summaries 7
While each team member contributes a particular and
crucial skill to the undertaking, "to build the perfect sprint
team, first you're going to need a Danny Ocean." In the
sprint, that person is the Decider, the most important
member of the sprint team. The Decider has the final say in
important decisions and typically takes ultimate
responsibility for the outcome. This person has expertise,
vision, and authority within the team. The Decider's
presence is crucial at key points in a sprint.
The authors learned the hard way how important it is to
have a Decider on the sprint team. Early on, they worked on
a sprint with a company they refer to as SquidCo—"to
protect the innocent." They scheduled the sprint for a week
when the company's chief product officer, Sam, was out of
town. Everything went well—until Sam got back and decided
the team had picked the wrong problem to solve.
The ideal size of a sprint team is seven people. Beyond the
Decider, sprint teams need members with a variety of skills,
roles, and expertise. They may include, but are not limited
to, the following:
Finance expert—chief executive officer (CEO) chief
financial officer (CFO), business development manager
Marketing expert—chief marketing officer (CMO),
marketer, public relations officer, community manager
Customer expert—researcher, sales person, customer
support representative
Tech/logistics expert—chief technology officer (CTO),
engineer
Design expert—designer, product manager
Troublemaker—someone who will cause trouble if he or
she isn't involved
Additional experts can be scheduled for the sprint's Monday
afternoon segment to provide specialized insights. In
addition, each sprint needs a Facilitator, who manages time,
conversations, and the process. Outside Facilitators can be
especially successful, but the Facilitator can be a dual role
for any member of the team except the Decider.
Set the Stage, Time and Space
Summary
Sprints run Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
with an hour-long lunch each day. The time element is
crucial to the sprint: "Five days provide enough urgency to
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide
sharpen focus ... [and] breathing room to build and test a
prototype."
In the sprint room each member should be 100 percent
focused on the task at hand, with no distractions: "The room
itself becomes a sort of shared brain for the team."
Sprint members should keep several things in mind before
starting the sprint:
No devices are allowed, except during break times.
Technology is a major source of interruption and a
productivity killer. Sprint team members may leave the
room to check their devices.
Each sprint requires two large whiteboards (or large
pieces of paper). Whiteboards visually represent notes
and ideas. They are easy to modify and act as a shared
brain for the team. A sprint also requires paper, pens,
black whiteboard markers, erasers, and sticky notes, as
well as a timer.
The sprint team should be kept energized with healthy,
nourishing snacks and coffee.
Monday, Start at the End
Summary
The 1995 film Apollo 13 includes a scene in which the flight
director draws a diagram of the spaceship's path on a
chalkboard. This sketch helps the team stay focused on the
ultimate goal of returning the spacecraft to Earth safely.
Sprints benefit from the same visual representations and
from time spent at the beginning organizing and collecting
information and analyzing the problem. It's tempting for
teams to want to solve a problem right away, but it's
important for team members to "slow down, share what
[they] know, and prioritize."
The sprint team first sets a long-term goal and writes it at
the top of the whiteboard, where it will remain for the
duration of the sprint. The goal should represent the team's
aspirations and principles.
Then the team imagines a year has passed and the project
has been a failure. Team members ask, "What caused the
goal to fail?" to examine assumptions.
Team members rephrase assumptions and obstacles as
questions, listing these on the whiteboard. For example:
What questions do we want to answer in the sprint?
What has to be true to meet the goal?
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Chapter Summaries 8
If we fail, what is the reason?
Monday, Map
Summary
The fantasy series The Lord of the Rings (1954–55), by
British novelist and scholar J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973), is a
long and highly complex tale. Fortunately, at the beginning
of each volume Tolkien includes a map that helps the reader
understand the story's locations, characters, and languages.
A map is similarly useful in a sprint. It's "a simple diagram
representing lots of complexity." In a sprint, "instead of elves
and wizards ... your map will show customers moving
through your service or project."
Flatiron Health is a medical start-up that completed a sprint
with Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, and Braden Kowitz, along
with Michael Margolis, a research partner at Google
Ventures. The end goal was to enroll more patients in
clinical trials. The company had "a very complex challenge
and a very simple map." The sprint map represented all the
players in the process: patient, doctors, and trial
coordinators. It showed the patient scheduling an
appointment, the doctor and staff looking for matching
clinical trials, the appointment, enrollment, and the start of
treatment—all the essential basics. Many layers of
complexity lay behind these basics, but this was enough to
start with.
Sprint maps depict the customer's steps from beginning to
end. The entire team weighs in as the map is drawn. Sprint
maps are customer-centric and have these common
features:
Key actors are listed on the left.
The ending, or desired outcome, is written on the right.
Words and arrows link the beginning and the ending of
the process.
Completing the map marks an important juncture. The team
members have a rough draft for the week. "The long-term
goal is your motivation and your measuring stick."
The sprint map changes and develops during the process.
Team members continually ask one another and experts if
the map looks right, adding to the questions and correcting
the map as necessary.
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
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Monday, Ask the Experts
Summary
On Monday afternoon the team brings in experts from
within and outside the company to help determine the
sprint's target. Each expert speaks or is interviewed for no
more than 30 minutes.
To determine which experts to invite, teams consider the
Decider's goals for the sprint, including risks and
advantages. Sprints benefit from experts who understand
the customer and experts who can explain the project's
mechanics. The authors give the example of a company
they refer to as WalrusCo. They drew a sprint map with the
company CEO, who said it was "absolutely, one hundred
percent right." Then the head of the company's sales team
came in and pointed out all sorts of things wrong with the
map. She "put the basic facts into a real customer's
context." That makes her an essential expert for the sprint
team.
As the authors note, "big challenges have a lot of nuance."
To understand them, "you need to incorporate information
from many sources."
It's helpful for teams to interview people who have tried to
solve the problem in the past. Often old solutions, slightly
tweaked or seen in a new light, are the best solutions.
Teams ask the experts open-ended questions and invite the
experts to weigh in on what is missing on the sprint map,
adjusting the map as experts provide new information.
Team members take individual notes.
Sprint team members use the exercise "How Might We"—a
technique developed at Procter & Gamble in the 1970s to
share and retain group knowledge. Each team member
writes questions on a sticky note, beginning with the phrase
"How might we ... ?" For example, with Blue Bottle Coffee,
the company that wanted to redesign its website, "we could
ask, 'How might we re-create the café experience?'" Ideally,
questions are neither too broad nor too narrow; they're "just
specific enough to inspire multiple solutions."
After the experts leave the sprint, the team shares and
organizes notes on the wall, looking for themes. The group
votes on the notes using sticky dots (two per person, four
for the Decider); the most popular notes go on the
appropriate section of the sprint map.
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Chapter Summaries 9
Monday, Target
Summary
In 1948 Marie Tharp (1920–2006), an American geologist
and oceanographic cartographer, plotted sonar soundings
to create the first detailed map of the ocean floor. As she
created her map, she found an interconnected chain of
undersea mountains, now known as a mid-ocean ridge. She
believed the mountain chain was created by plate
tectonics—the idea that huge pieces of the earth's crust are
always moving, shifting continents and changing the
landscape. At the time this was an unaccepted theory.
However, her map helped the scientific community accept
the theory as established science.
Sprints are a hunt for a Tharp moment. When the sprint
team has finished interviewing experts, organizing notes,
and mapping, the project's most important features should
"jump right out of your map, almost like a crack in the earth."
From this data, the team will choose the sprint target.
All team members can discuss the target, but the Decider
ultimately chooses it. "Who is the most important customer,
and what's the critical moment of that customer's
experience?" The Decider will pick one target event and one
target customer. If the Decider has trouble choosing, the
team can hold a straw poll and then turn to the Decider
again for a final decision. This will be the focus for the rest
of the sprint.
When the target is decided, the team reviews the sprint
questions. At least one question should relate to the target.
The authors note that Facilitators should keep in mind
certain guidelines as the sprint gets under way in earnest.
They should do some or all of the following:
Ask for permission to manage the group.
Record key ideas on the whiteboard—"or as
entrepreneur Josh Porter likes to say, 'Always be
capturing.'"
Ask obvious questions to ensure no one is
misinterpreting information.
Take care of sprint participants. The authors suggest
frequent breaks, a late lunch (to avoid crowds and to split
the workday neatly in half), light food, and healthy
snacks.
Call on the Decider as needed to speed up decisions.
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
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Tuesday, Remix and Improve
Summary
Melitta Bentz (1873–1950), a German entrepreneur, invented
the paper coffee filter in 1908, taking two existing ideas and
combining them into a workable solution. She fashioned
blotting paper in the style of a traditional cloth coffee filter
to brew a smooth cup of coffee. This example shows the
power of using existing ideas in new ways. Reframing ideas
or combining them with new ideas or other existing ideas is
a powerful creation tool.
Tuesday begins with lightning demos, during which each
team member presents a favorite idea, product, or service in
three minutes. These ideas can be new, reused, or
refashioned from within the company or from outside
competitors. The authors note, however, that "this exercise
is about finding raw materials, not about copying your
competitors." Usually, the ideas that lead to the best
solutions "come from similar problems in different
environments."
Each idea is represented on the whiteboard with a sticky
note containing a succinct explanation. There should be no
debate about the ideas.
Eventually, it's time for the team to consider the map, sprint
questions, and "How Might We?" notes to determine a path.
The team decides whether to divide and distribute tasks or
address the problem as a group. This decision largely
depend on the scope of the target. Team members may
choose the part or parts of the problem they will work on by
writing down their name on the appropriate part of the map.
Tuesday, Sketch
Summary
On Tuesday afternoon it's time for team members to sketch.
No drawing ability is required; sketches are mostly words
and boxes. Sketching the solution helps the team examine
the problem deeply. It's the fastest and easiest way to make
solutions out of abstract ideas. It also puts the team
members on the same level. As the authors say, "We're
believers in the importance of starting on paper. It's a great
Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc.
Chapter Summaries 10
equalizer."
A four-step sketch strategy helps the team get started. The
steps are as follows:
During a 20-minute "boot up," team members take notes
on goals, opportunities, and ideas.
Then everyone works alone, together. This is one step in
which devices are allowed in the sprint room. Team
members can use their devices for research while
doodling rough solutions.
Next, the team uses the strategy Crazy Eights to draw
eight reasonable solutions in eight minutes. These
sketches are anonymous, but the solutions should be
workable.
Finally each member creates a final "solution sketch." It
should include meaningful text: "Choosing the right
words is critical in every medium." The sketch should
include a catchy title.
When everyone is done sketching, the sketches go in a pile,
and team members go home for the day. The debate will
begin on Wednesday.
On Monday or Tuesday the Facilitator—or another team
member if the Facilitator is too busy—needs to start
recruiting mock customers for Friday's test. Customers
might be recruited through the company network or through
Craigslist. Customers should be screened with a survey—a
simple questionnaire that ensures the team finds
appropriate people for the task.
Wednesday, Decide
Summary
Wednesday is the day for decisions. Team members
shouldn't spend too much time on this step. A formulaic
decision-making process can help the team avoid lengthy
and unproductive discussions.
A tech company made a video game called Glitch, which
never caught on. While developing the game, the company
created a messaging system for its employees. When Glitch
failed to win an audience, the company decided to offer its
messaging system to other companies. It was named
Slack—and it was a huge hit with other tech companies.
However, companies outside the tech industry didn't
understand the benefits of Slack, so the company did a
sprint to develop a way to showcase Slack's benefits.
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide
To decide which sketch to use in the sprint, Slack team
members first hung the preliminary sketches on the wall.
They then created a heat map by using dot stickers to mark
interest. This is another way to speed along the sprint
process: "Dot stickers let us form and express our opinions
without lengthy debate." Next came a speed critique during
which team members discussed the main features of each
solution again using stickers to pick favorites. Finally, the
Decider consulted with the Slack CEO and made a final
decision.
It's important for the Decider to make honest decisions. As
the authors note, people working in groups often "worry
about consensus and try to make decisions everyone will
approve." While democracy works for governing nations,
"democracy ... has no place in your sprint."
Teams should save ideas that aren't winners; these ideas
may spark new ideas or may become workable solutions
down the road.
Wednesday, Rumble
Summary
Sometimes teams may pick more than one solution to test.
If the two ideas don't conflict, they can be combined into a
single idea, called an all-in-one.
If the ideas do conflict, it's time for a Rumble. The team
splits in two, develops both prototypes, and then tests them
both on Friday: "Your prototypes will battle head-to-head,
like professional wrestlers whacking each other with folding
chairs."
To facilitate decision-making, teams use a process called
Note-and-Vote. Team members have three minutes to write
down their ideas on a piece of paper. Then they spend
another two minutes editing their list down to two or three
ideas.
The Facilitator writes each person's top idea on the
whiteboard, and everyone takes two minutes to choose a
favorite idea. One at a time, team members announce their
favorite. Finally, looking at the board, the Decider makes the
ultimate decision.
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Chapter Summaries 11
Wednesday, Storyboard
Summary
The team's final task on Wednesday is to create a
storyboard of 10 to 15 panels illustrating the solution's steps.
The storyboard helps the team envision the finished
prototype, "so [people] can spot problems and points of
confusion before the prototype is built."
Team members draw a grid with about 15 frames. The
storyboard starts in the top left, with a box describing what
happens when the customer first encounters the solution.
From there, the storyboard proceeds to explain the solution
and how the customer interacts with the solution. Each
storyboard panel represents about a minute of the
prototype demonstration.
A sprint is not a Pixar production that requires immaculate
planning. The storyboard doesn't have to be perfect or even
pretty. For example, the Slack team's storyboard looked like
"the world's most boring (and poorly drawn) comic strip."
Still, it worked.
The storyboard simply needs to show the process and
serve as a guide for Thursday's prototype build. It should
include sufficient detail without going into great depth.
It's easy for "decision fatigue" to set in during this process.
The Facilitator needs to keep everyone energized until the
end of each day. When storyboarding discussions goes on
too long or disagreements arise, the Facilitator should try to
get things back on track or call in the Decider to move
things forward.
Thursday, Fake It
Summary
The prototype solution is about illusions. It's like a storefront
in an old Western movie—fake but believable on the outside.
The team must create an illusion of the real prototype that
can be built in a single day. The authors say, "90 percent
real is real enough to test" and "if you only build a façade,
you can get to 90 percent on day one."
The short time line is intentional. In addition to providing
speedy results, it prevents the team from becoming
Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide Chapter Summaries 12

emotionally attached, which is important if the customer with kids. The sprint challenge: how do you prototype a
doesn't respond well to the test. There's no point in toiling doctor's office? The group decided to simulate a family
extensively over a prototype that may be rejected. clinic in one of its existing offices, adding everything from
The aim is usability, not perfection: "To prototype your crayons and paper to fresh fruit to create a kid-friendly
solution, you'll need a temporary change of philosophy: from atmosphere.
perfect to just enough." However, the prototype should
appear sufficiently real to give the customer a meaningful
experience and provide good data. Four principles are Thursday, Prototype
essential to the "prototype mindset":
With some creativity, anything—or nearly anything—can
be prototyped.
Summary
Prototypes are disposable, not finished products.
The sprint team should build enough to help customers
The authors note that Thursday is a bit different from other
learn and find answers to their questions—no more.
sprint days; "every prototype is different, so there's no step-
The prototype should appear real.
by-step process we can share." How the team goes about
Strive for a "Goldilocks" level prototype—the quality should
the prototyping process largely depends on what is being
be "not too high, not too low, but just right"—that customers
created. However, there are four basics to follow: "1. Pick
will believe is real; this will elicit honest reactions.
the right tools. 2. Divide and conquer. 3. Stitch it together. 4.
The authors provide examples of the "prototype mindset,"
Do a trial run."
starting with a sprint for Fitstar, a start-up offering a new
It's always important to choose tools wisely.
kind of fitness software. For Fitstar, the team decided to
Keynote and PowerPoint are especially good for
"fake" an app since there was no time to create a real one.
websites and paper-based prototypes.
The fake app was sufficient to make customers understand
The team can write a script and use team members as
how the real one would work.
actors when creating a service.
To explain the messaging service Slack to nontechnical
For experiences or places, teams can use an existing
customers, the sprint team decided to create a "Bot Team"
space, making it look as close to the real thing as
of computer-controlled characters—played by members of
possible.
the sprint team—to send messages to customers and
The team may choose to 3-D print physical products.
respond to their questions. This gave customers a clear
Alternately, the team can modify an existing product.
idea of how Slack works.
If something is too intricate or complicated to prototype,
In a sprint for Foundation Medicine, the question was "What
teams can create a video or brochure to explain the
essential information do oncologists need to make
product.
treatment decisions?" The company had developed an
The team divides up tasks for the prototype.
innovative test to provide treatment options for cancer
Makers (at least two) create the components of the
patients. After the test, results were delivered on paper in
prototype.
the form of a lengthy report. For the prototype, the sprint
The detail-oriented Stitcher assembles what the Makers
team decided to focus on the first page of the report,
create.
containing realistic (but not real) oncology test results.
The Writer creates any text needed for the prototype.
Fortunately, Savioke, the company developing the Relay
The Asset Collector secures materials for the prototype.
robot for hotels, already had a robot ready for the
The Interviewer works on the interview script for Friday's
prototype. The sprint team decided to "build our prototype
test, in which he or she will present the prototype to
on top of what they already had," faking elements such as
customers.
the robot's eyes touch-screen interactions so that
After assigning roles, teams determine who will provide
customers could understand the full experience.
each feature. It's important to pay close attention to the
Another company, One Medical Group, wanted to expand
opening scene, setting the stage for the customers' first
the audience for its primary care clinics from young, tech-
encounter on Friday.
savvy professionals to a wider audience, including families
The Stitcher makes sure all "fake" content—dates, times,

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Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide Chapter Summaries 13

names, etc.—is consistent throughout the prototype. They

are also "on the hook to keep everything tight," checking on Friday, Interview
everyone's progress throughout the day and making sure
every element of the prototype looks coherent.
The team does a trial run at 3 p.m. to practice presenting Summary
the prototype to customers. This is the time to make minor
tweaks. Because the interview is so important, the role of
If time allows, the team can return to the sprint questions to Interviewer is crucial as well. Team members can take turns
consider how well the prototype aligns with the goals. fulfilling this role, but it's important to have a structure to get
The authors note that Thursday's prototype build is "pretty best results. Sprints use the following process, called the
darn satisfying" because the team gets to start a big task, Five-Act Interview, perfected by Michael Margolis, research
follow a precise plan, and complete the task—something partner at Google Ventures:
that doesn't happen often in the course of a workday. The Interviewer gives a warm welcome and helps
customers feel relaxed. The interview should have an
informal feel; it's "not a group exercise; it's a conversation
Friday, Small Data between two people." The Interviewer explains to
customers that their honest opinion will help improve the
product. The Interviewer also tells customers the team is
watching via camera, makes sure customers are
Summary comfortable with that, and goes over legal paperwork up
front.
On Friday the Interviewer interviews five target customers
The Interviewer asks open-ended context questions
and lets them interact with and react to the prototype.
about the customers; this may include questions about
When this step is over, "you'll know how far you have to go,
their life, interests, and activities.
and you'll know just what to do next."
Next, the Interviewer introduces the prototype (or
The customers try to complete a task with the prototype.
prototypes) and provides context, explaining that the
The interaction is on camera, and the other sprint team
prototype isn't fully functional and, as needed, noting
members watch live in another room. "These interviews are
parts that aren't yet functional but would be. The
an emotional roller coaster" for the team because it can be
Interviewer may claim to have had no part in designing
frustrating to watch customers act confused or show little
the prototype—a white lie that ensures customers will
interest in the prototype. Still, all the information is valuable.
speak openly without worrying about hurting the
Five customers is the "magic number" because interviewing
Interviewer's feelings. Customers are encouraged to
just five customers will reveal 85 percent of problems. More
think aloud as they look at and interact with the
tests are unnecessary and counterproductive. Five tests
prototype.
also fit into a single day, which is important for the sprint.
Instead of showing customers how to use the prototype,
After customers interact with the prototype, they ask
the Interviewer asks questions that invite customers to
questions. The team observes the customers' reactions and
try detailed tasks with it. This shows how customers
listens to questions and answers. The Interviewer must
interact naturally with the prototype.
determine why a customer feels a certain way about the
The Interviewer debriefs customers and allows them to
prototype.
share any overarching thoughts about the prototype.
The why is important because it allows the team to
Throughout the interview, the Interviewer keeps asking
understand which aspects of the prototype do and don't
open-ended questions. Being curious encourages
work. Customer interviews will reveal patterns in the
customers to reciprocate curiosity. As the authors note,
prototype, either positive or negative.
"Curiosity is an outlook that can be embodied, and even
The interview is a critical step in the sprint process. If the
learned."
team does not discover any potential issues with the
prototype, the sprint's purpose is lost.

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Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide Quotes 14

outcome, the sprint team really can't lose. By testing a

Friday, Learn prototype with customers, the team will "win the best prize
of all: the chance to learn ... whether you're on the right
track." Often, the test isn't the end of the process but the
Summary beginning.

At the end of the day on Friday, everything comes together.

The team sees patterns in the customer interviews Liftoff
indicating what went well, what needs improvement, and
what simply doesn't work. This is a crucial part of the sprint
process. "The sprint only works if you stick together until
the end."
Summary
To detect patterns, teams draw a five-column grid on the
The Wright Brothers, Orville (1871–1948) and Wilbur
whiteboard before the interviews. One column represents
(1867–1912) developed the first successful airplane. Their
each customer interviewed. Rows correspond to the
first flight was the ultimate sprint test. The Wrights started
prototype (or prototypes) or its features. Another row can
with an ambitious goal and identified the big questions they
be designated for the sprint questions or any other
had to answer. They interviewed others who had attempted
important questions.
their goal, gleaning knowledge they could use in their own
Team members use sticky notes to jot down anything
effort. They examined existing inventions such as kites,
interesting they hear or observe, using different color
hang gliders, birds, and propellers, remixing and improving
markers for various types of notes. For example, a green
the ideas behind them for their purposes. They developed
marker might represent positive responses, and a red one
prototypes over the years, refining them based on their
might represent negative responses. Team members can
observations, and finally they found success.
also add a plus or minus sign in an upper corner of the note
Sprints can create habits of questioning, prototyping, and
to indicate the response type.
testing in an organization. They change the way a team
Taking notes is preferable to talking; this way the team
works. Sprints build team members' confidence in
won't miss anything important in the interviews. After the
themselves and their colleagues, and they give team
interviews the sticky notes go on the appropriate spot in the
members a sense of purpose as they work toward an
grid.
ambitious goal: "When you go to work ... you should know ...
When the interviews are complete, the team starts to look
you're making a difference in real people's lives."
for patterns, paying special attention to three or more
similar responses across customers. For example, during
the Slack sprint, customers were confused about how Slack
worked with e-mail, "but four out of five customers had g Quotes
understood the overall value—a huge success."
After looking individually, team members discuss the
patterns they observed, list them on the second whiteboard,
"You won't finish ... [but you'll]
and label them positive, negative, or neutral. know for sure if you're headed in
Then the team returns to the sprint questions to see
whether the customer interviews provided answers. Even if the right direction."
every question isn't answered, the team banks the progress
made in the sprint. Then it's time for the team to discuss — Narrator, Introduction
next steps. "After looking back, it's usually easy to figure out
the next step," but if a discussion ends in uncertainty, the
The purpose of a sprint isn't to complete and perfect a
Decider can determine what will happen next.
product, but rather to test an idea. This is accomplished
Friday helps the team find the end to a sprint story and
through collaborative thinking and testing that help a team
consider what to do with that information. No matter the
know if an idea will be successful.

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Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide Quotes 15

Sprints must be carefully planned to target the right question

"A sprint resembles that perfectly
or questions. Much of the sprint's first day, Monday, is spent
orchestrated heist ... To pull it off individually and then collaboratively brainstorming problems to
determine which is the right one to solve.
you need the right team."

— Narrator, Set the Stage, Team

"The long-term goal is your

The authors compare sprints to the great heist depicted in the

motivation and your measuring
movie Ocean's Eleven. Each member of the team has special stick."
skills that make the sprint succeed, just as all of Danny
Ocean's 11 criminals were critical to the success of the heist.
— Narrator, Monday, Map

Choosing a long-term goal is paramount to a sprint's success.

"Five days provide enough
A long-term goal helps the team identify the problem and
urgency to sharpen focus ... [and] solution; ultimately this goal is the measurement of whether the
prototype is a successful solution.
breathing room to build and test a
prototype."
"The ideas that spark the best
— Narrator, Set the Stage, Time and Space
solutions come from similar

A five-day workweek is a key concept of the sprint. This short

problems in different
time line sparks ingenuity and creativity, and it helps the team environments."
avoid distractions and side issues so that they remain
completely focused on the goal at hand.
— Narrator, Tuesday, Remix and Improve

The authors emphasize the idea that many of the best

"The room itself becomes a sort of
solutions are simply improved or slightly altered versions of
shared brain for the team." existing solutions. Therefore, on Tuesday, the second day of a
sprint, time is allotted for team members to share their favorite
— Narrator, Set the Stage, Time and Space existing solutions.

A sprint heavily revolves around visual representation,

beginning with shared whiteboards that allow the entire team
"We're believers in the importance
to share their ideas, questions, and thoughts with the group, of starting on paper. It's a great
turning the room into a "shared brain."
equalizer."

"Slow down, share what you know, — Narrator, Tuesday, Sketch

and prioritize."
All team members in a sprint are expected to sketch ideas.
Sketching does not require any artistic talent; it's simply a
— Narrator, Monday, Start at the End
means to quickly and deeply examine and represent solutions

Copyright © 2019 Course Hero, Inc.

Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide Quotes 16

to a problem.
exercise; it's a conversation
between two people."
"Dot stickers let us form and
— Narrator, Friday, Interview
express our opinions without
lengthy debate." It's important to the data that the interview, which takes place
on Day 5 of the sprint, is a relaxed, low-stress experience. It
— Narrator, Wednesday, Decide should be like a conversation between the Interviewer and the
customer—a conversation in which ideas are tested. This
allows the rest of the sprint team to simply observe the test
During a sprint, team members use visual voting and interest-
without influencing it.
generating systems such as sticky dots to quickly gauge
interest, make decisions, and avoid drawn-out discussions that
can weigh down the sprint.
"Curiosity is an outlook that can be
embodied, and even learned."
"Democracy ... has no place in your
sprint." — Narrator, Friday, Interview

— Narrator, Wednesday, Decide Curiosity is an important part of the interview process because
it eliminates leading questions and opens the air for honest
observation and listening.
The Decider is an important role in a sprint. The Decider—the
team member who best understands the problem—keeps
things moving and makes clearheaded decisions rather than
leaving them up to the group. Democracy "feels good" but is "The sprint only works if you stick
best suited to governing nations, not sprints.
together until the end."

— Narrator, Friday, Learn

"To prototype your solution, you'll
need a temporary change of At the end of the sprint it may be tempting to rush back into
philosophy: from perfect to just the hustle and bustle of real life, but it's important to take time
after the test to collaborate on what the sprint revealed.
enough."

— Narrator, Thursday, Fake It "When you go to work ... you

should know ... you're making a
Prototypes are illusions that provide the customer with an
experience. They don't need to be perfect or even fully difference in real people's lives."
functional. The authors believe spending too much time on the
prototype has negative consequences. — Narrator, Liftoff

Sprints are a way to make work more meaningful. Because

"The interview is not a group they focus on the customers' experience, employees can feel

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Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Study Guide Glossary 17

they are improving life for their customers.

m Glossary
centric (adj) centered around

facilitate (v) to lead a process

mechanics (n) the working parts of a machine or operation

momentum (n) the driving force behind an effort or process

prioritize (v) to determine the importance of something and

determine an order for addressing parts

prototype (n) the first preliminary model of an idea, concept,

good, or service that is not fully developed

prototype (v) to create the first preliminary model of an idea,

concept, good, or service

reinvent (v) to re-create using new ideas

start-up (n) a newly established business

venture capital (n) money invested in a project with high risk

and high potential reward

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