Product
Sprint
Jake Knapp
2016
Summary
A sprint is a five-day process for solving big problems and testing new ideas without building and launching the full product. Created at Google Ventures, the process brings together a small team — typically 5–7 people with one decision-maker — to map the challenge, sketch solutions, pick the best one, build a realistic prototype, and test it with real customers. All in a week. The result is real customer feedback on real questions, without months of wasted development.
Key Takeaways
- 1A five-day sprint can answer critical questions before committing to full development
- 2The decision-maker must be in the room — sprints fail when authority is absent
- 3Sketching solutions individually, then voting, beats groupthink in meetings
- 4You only need a realistic-looking prototype, not a working product, to get valid feedback
- 5Five customer interviews are enough to identify major patterns and invalidate bad ideas
- 6Start at the end: define the goal and the risks before designing any solution