1. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L 1
Book Refresher for:
Sprint: How to Solve Big
Problems and Test New
Ideas in Just Five Days
By Jake Knapp
2. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
Book Summary
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This book is a DIY guide for running your own sprint to answer your pressing
business questions.
What is a sprint? The sprint s a five-day process for answering critical business
questions through design, prototyping, and testing ideas with customers. It’s a
“greatest hits” of business strategy, innovation, behavior science, design
thinking, and more – packaged into a battle-tested process that any team can
use.
3. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
Book Outline
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1. Set the Stage
• Challenge
• Team
• Time & Space
2. Monday
• Start at the End
• Map
• Ask the Experts
• Target
3. Tuesday
• Remix and Improve
• Sketch
4. Wednesday
• Decide
• Rumble
• Storyboard
5. Thursday
• Fake it
• Prototype
6. Friday
• Small data
• Interview
• Learn
7. Liftoff (Closing)
8. Checklists
9. Frequently-Asked Questions
4. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
1. Set the Stage
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• Challenge
• “When we talk to start-ups, we encourage them to go after their most
important problem…No problem is too large for a sprint”
• “Get that surface right, and you can work backward to figure out the
underlying systems or technology. Focusing on the surface allows you to
move fast and answer big questions before you commit to execution.”
• Team
• Recruit a team of seven (or fewer): Decider and experts for finance,
marketing, customers, tech / logistics, and design
• Pick a Facilitator
• Time and Space
• Block five full days, and no devices!
• Use whiteboards extensively
5. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
2. Monday
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Monday’s structured discussions set the path for the week
• Start at the End
• Set a long-term goal for the company
• List sprint questions to be answered (by rephrasing assumptions)
• Map
• Map out people involved in buying / using your product and the steps in their
journey in interacting with your product
• Ask the Experts
• Interview experts on strategy, VoC, how things work, and prev. efforts
• Take notes in ‘HMW’ format to aggregate and find problems / opps.
• Target
• Who is the most important customer? What is the most critical moment of the
customer experience?
6. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
2. Monday – Start at the End
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• Set a long-term goal
• Why are we doing this project? Where do
we want to be in six months, a year, or
even five years from now?
• Goal should reflect team’s principles and
aspirations
• List the sprint questions
• What questions do you want answered in
this sprint?
• To meet our long-term goal, what has to
be true?
• Imagine we travel to the future and our
project failed. What might have caused it
to fail?
7. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
2. Monday - Map
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• List the actors on the left
• Write the ending on the right
• Words and arrows in between
• Keep it simple
• Ask for help from all involved
8. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
2. Monday – Ask the Experts
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• Introduce the sprint
• Review the whiteboards
• Open the door
• Ask questions
• Fix the whiteboards
9. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
2. Monday – How Might We Path
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1
.
2.
3.
10. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
2. Monday – Target / End Result
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• The Decider needs to choose the one target customer and the one target
event on the map
• Once you’ve selected your target, look back at your sprint questions. Likely
won’t answer all, but one or more should line up with the target
11. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
3. Tuesday
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• Remix and improve
• Lightning Demos and capture big ideas / inspiration as you go
• Divide or swarm? Divvy up team or all work on same problem
• Sketch
• Work alone together
• The four-step sketch: Notes (20 min), Ideas (20 min), Crazy 8’s (8 min),
Solution Sketch (30+ min)
• Tuesday End result – pile of sketches of potential solutions
12. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
4. Wednesday
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• Decide
• Critique each solution and decide which ones have the best chance of
achieving your long-term goal
• Rumble
• If you have multiple winning solutions, decide if you will prototype multiple
solutions and have them compete in real-world test or mold them together
into one solution
• Storyboard
• Take the winning scenes from your sketches and weave them into a
storyboard: a step-by-step plan for your prototype.
• Wednesday End Result: Storyboard for prototype
13. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
4. Wednesday - Decide
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• The Sticky Decision:
• Art Musuem – put the solution sketches up on the wall
• Heat map – use sticker dots to mark interesting parts
• Speed critique – quickly discuss highlights of each; capture big ideas
• Straw poll – everyone votes for a solution
• Supervote – The Decider makes final decision
14. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
4. Wednesday - Storyboard
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• Storyboard process
• Draw a grid of empty boxes on
whiteboard
• Choose an opening scene
• Fill out the storyboard
• Work with what you have
• Don’t write together
• Include just enough detail
• The Decider decides
• When in doubt, take risks
15. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
5. Thursday
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• Fake it
• The Prototype Mindset – You can prototype anything
• Prototypes are disposable
• Build just enough to learn, but not more (Goldilocks quality)
• The prototype must appear real
• Prototype
• Pick the right tools
• Divide and conquer
• Stitch it together
• Do a trial run
16. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
6. Friday
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• Small data
• Interview 5 people on Friday – will be sufficient amount of feedback
• Interview - The Five-Act Interview
• Friendly welcome to start the interview
• Context questions to understand tester’s background
• Introduction to the prototype
• Walk customer through detailed tasks
• Quick debrief
• Learn
• Watch together and learn together
• Take interview notes as a group
• Look for patterns
17. P R I V A T E A N D C O N F I D E N T I A L
7. Liftoff
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• New / unconventional ideas covered in this book:
• Instead of jumping right into solutions, take your time to map out the problem
and agree on an initial target. Start slow so you can go fast.
• Instead of shouting out ideas, work independently to make detailed sketches of
possible solutions. Group brainstorming is broken, but there is a better way.
• Instead of abstract debate and endless meetings, use voting and a Decider to
make crisp decisions that reflect your team’s priorities. It’s the wisdom of the
crowd without the groupthink.
• Instead of getting all the details right before testing your solution, create a
façade. Adopt the “prototype mindset” so you can learn quickly.
• And instead of guessing and hoping you’re on the right track—all the while
investing piles of money and months of time into your ideas—test your
prototype with target customers and get their honest reactions.
