About “Sprint” book — “how to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days.”

This book is written by Jake Knapp, and also John Zeratsky & Braden Kowitz, who are all Google Venturers. It talks in-depth about a 5 day sprint in which you come up with an awesome solution to a very (usually) challenging problem.

I think that this was a good book. A lot of stories, really interesting stories, and examples of things. That was all very, very good. Like, they talked about this robot delivery company at hotels, and medical companies, and coffee company, among others. They were basically illustrating how their sprint concept worked with all of these companies, and it did not matter what kind of company it was or what products they made and sold. The five day sprint works for everyone, and everything. At the end of the book they gave examples of other platforms being used with the sprint, such as schools and classes and the like, so that students could use it to come up with great solutions to their problems. I think it was really interesting and insightful, and now it’s making me think in what ways I could maybe implement the sprint, or parts of it.

In this article I will summarize the book, the concepts, select the parts from the book that I thought were the most interesting, and then talk about those parts, step by step. I find that writing about what I learn helps me A LOT to understand and remember these more intricate ideas. Hooray! :)

Overview of the Contents

Set the Stage

• The Challenge (Start with a big problem)
• Team (Get a decided, a facilitator, and a diverse team)
• Time and Space (Schedule five days and find the right room)

Monday

• Start at the End (Agree to a long-term goal)
• Map (Diagram the problem)
• Ask the Experts (Interview your teammates and other experts)
• Target (Choose a focus for your sprint)

Tuesday

• Remix and Improve (Look for old ideas and inspiration)
• Sketch (Put detailed solutions on paper)

Wednesday

• Decide (Choose the best solutions without groupthink)
• Rumble (Keep competing ideas alive)
• Storyboard (Make a plan for the prototype)

Thursday

• Fake it (Build a facade instead of a product)
• Prototype (Find the right tools, then divide and conquer)

Friday

• Small Data (Get big insights from just five customers)
• Interview (Ask the right questions)
• Learn (Find patterns and plan the next step)

The contents above is very much an outline of how the process works, each day by day steps and what you do during those steps, so to speak. It’s funny, but I remember when I first read the contents I had no idea what those things were. I’m pretty sure that it didn’t even register to me. But, now that I re-read it (and wrote it all out), I actually know what those things are and what they mean and how they work together, and I kinda remember some of the stories that go with them and how those steps were incorporated in different projects. Ha, just a bit funny to remember and to recognize that happening :).

Anyways, the above contents is really a run-through of the whole book, pretty much. One thing that I think I forgot to mention earlier, is that even though I do think the book is good and interesting and has undoubtedly helped many people and companies, I have to say that at times I did find my mind start to wonder and get off track even while reading… It was like I wasn’t quite getting or understanding or taking in what they were saying, and I had to make the effort to start to really focus on the text. I’m not sure if that is something to do with the book or just with my own personal things. But, I know that if a book is really interesting and really engrosses me, even if it is non-fiction, it will be hard for me to put it down. And then to add to this, as Dan Norman himself put it (in paraphrase) ‘if people don’t know how to use something, they usually blame themselves and say that they’re stupid and such, but in reality it is the fault with the design.’ So there you have it.

Set the Stage.

“Before the sprint begins, you’ll need to have the right challenge and the right team. You’ll also need time and space to conduct your sprint.”

“The bigger the challenge, the better the sprint.”

I feel like people tend to perform better when they’re under more pressure, funnily enough. I know I do, ha.

Team.

• Get a Decider (or two). This is really important from what the authors explained. They illustrated this with a story of how they worked on a sprint for 5 days and came up with a great solution. However, the person in charge of decisions, someone’s who has the final say, wasn’t there. And, when that person DID show up later, they said that they didn’t like the solution and the whole process and effort made was voided. Don’t make that mistake.
• Recruit a team of sever (or fewer). The authors said that 7 is the optimal number. More than that is simply too many people talking in the room.
• Decider: Who makes decisions for your team? A CEO? Maybe it’s just a stand-in for the CEO? But it needs to be approved and agreed by the CEO.
• Finance expert: Who can explain where the money comes from (and where it goes)?
• Marketing expert: Who crafts your company’s messages?
• Customer expert: Who regularly talks to your customers one-on-one?
• Tech/logistics expert: Who best understands what your company can build and deliver?
• Design expert: Who designs the products your company makes?

Something else that the book talks about in detail is how important it is to have a facilitator, someone in charge of keeping things moving forward, of having a tight schedule, of making sure that things get done and that people aren’t texting or using their screen-devices during this very precious sprint time. The facilitator gets things organized, makes sure that all the supplies are there and available, provides healthy snacks, writes things on the whiteboard, get things started and moving.

Bring the troublemaker. Who might cause trouble if he or she isn’t included? That smart person who has strong, contrary opinions, and whom you might be slightly uncomfortable including in your sprint. The troublemaker might just make a guest appearance, but at least they’ll feel included.

• Schedule extra experts for Monday.
• Pick a Facilitator.

Time and Space.

As the above says — longer hours don’t mean better results. True.

What the author suggest is conducting the sprint from 10am — 5pm, with some short breaks and lunch in between. They also say that those involved in the sprint will have to commit fully, thus they will not be able to do a full week’s work. However, they can respond to emails or what not before the 10am start. They suggest the shorter days for the sprint because that way people are more focused.

Friday will have to be longer because it is the usability test day where the solution is tested out.

Also, during the sprint there should be no cellphones and no computers allowed (unless the computer is used specifically for the sprint, for whatever reason, such as doing some research or scheduling participants for the test, or creating the prototype, etc.). If you need to take a call, you should step outside.

“Whiteboards make you smarter.”

IDEO’s CEO, Tim Brown, in his book “Change by Design” says, “The simultaneous visibility of these project materials helps us identify patterns and encourages creative synthesis to occur much more readily than when these resources are hidden away in file folders, notebooks, or PowerPoint decks.”

When you use a whiteboard you can see everything happening at once right there, in front of you, in one place — how things are connected, linked, mapped out, etc. It just helps for a comprehension.

Ideally, you should run your sprint in the same room all day, every day.

Stock up on the right supplies.

• Sticky notes, markers, pens, Tim Timers, and regular old printer paper. You’ll also need healthy snacks to keep up the team’s energy.

“Although most would never admit it, people like having a tight schedule. It builds confidence in the sprint process, and in you as a Facilitator.”

Monday.

Monday’s structured discussions create a path for the sprint week. In the morning, you’ll start at the end and agree to a long-term goal. Next, you’ll make a map of the challenge. In the afternoon, you’ll ask the experts at your company to share what they know. Finally, you’ll pick a target: an ambitious but manageable piece of the problem that you can solve in one week.

Start at the End.

“In the chaos of Mission Control, the simple diagram helps keeps the team focused on the right problems.”

“NASA got organized and sorted their priorities before they started on solutions.”

• Monday begins with an exercise called Start at the End: a look ahead — to the end of the sprint week and beyond. You and your team will lay out the basics: your long-term goal and the difficult questions that must be answered. If you could jump ahead to the end of your sprint, what questions would be answered? If you went six months or a year further into the future, what would have improved about your business as a result of this project? Even when the future seems obvious, it’s worth taking the time on Monday to make it specific, and write it down. You’ll start with the project’s long-term goal.

Set a long-term goal.

To start the conversation, ask your team this question:

“Why are we doing this project? Where do we want to be six months, a year, or even five years from now?”

• Slowing down might be frustrating for a moment, but the satisfaction and confidence of a clear goal will last all week. Take time to discuss the above question with your team. This could take anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes.
• Once you’ve settled on a long-term goal, write it at the top of the whiteboard. It’ll stay there throughout the sprint as a beacon to keep everyone moving in the same direction.

List sprint questions.

• You’ll list out your sprint questions on a second whiteboard (if you have one). Some possible question examples:

What questions do we want to answer in this sprint?

To meet our long-term goal, what has to be true?

Imagine we travel into the future and our project failed. What might have caused that?

An important part of this exercise is rephrasing assumptions and obstacles into questions.

More examples:

Q: To reach new customers, what has to be true? A: They have to trust our expertise.

Q: How can we phrase that as a question? A: Will customers trust our expertise?

Turning these potential problems into questions makes them easier to track — and easier to answer with sketches, prototypes, and tests. It also creates a subtle shift from uncertainty (which is uncomfortable) to curiosity (which is exciting).

“By starting at the end with these questions, you’ll face your fears. Big questions and unknowns can be discomforting, but you’ll feel relieved to see them all listed in one place. You’ll know where you’re headed and what you’re up against.”

Map.

You want to whiteboard as much as possible to help think and brainstorm ideas.

These are some examples from a project that the authors were working on and how they used the whiteboard to help them think and map things out:

“On Monday of their sprint, Savioke (one of the project-clients) had to organize information about robotics, navigation, hotel operations, and guest habits. This is their map”:

Another project’s map:

These above maps are really like user journeys — where would someone go/click on and how that would lead to the next step.

So in the Savioke’s example above, a Guest would call the front desk because they forgot a tooth brush - Step 1. The front desk person puts the toothbrush inside the delivery robot, which was triggered by the call — step 2. Robot travels through the lobby and the elevator and gets to the door — step 3. Maybe a bystander sees the robot traveling, which is surprising — step 4? Eventually the robot delivers the item, which is triggered by an automatic phone call to the guest to open the door. The Guest only does the call and get the delivery, though there’s WAY more happening behind the scenes. The team (once they brainstormed on their goals) mapped out their service of the robot delivery at a hotel. This map, then, helped them to see the whole picture together, in simple form, so that they could now work off of it for further development, narrowing in on the main problem to solve and a solution.

“The common elements? Each map is customer-centric, with a list of key actors on the left. Each map is a story, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. And, no matter the business, each map is simple. The diagrams are composed of nothing more than words, arrows, and a few boxes.”

Make a map.

1. List the actors (on the left). The “actors” are all the important characters in your story. Most often, they’re different kinds of customers.
2. Write the ending (on the right).
3. Words and arrows in between. The map should be functional, not a work of art.
4. Keep it simple.
5. Ask for help. “Does this map look right?”

“At this point, you will have reached an important milestone. You have a rough draft of your long-term goal, sprint questions, and map.”

“The long-term goal is your motivation and your measuring stick.”

“As you go, you’ll add more questions, make updates to your map, and perhaps even adjust the phrasing of your long-term goal.”

Ask the Experts.

“Your team knows a lot about your challenge… But that knowledge is distributed.”

“You’ll be gathering the information you need to choose the target of your sprint, while gathering fuel for the solutions you sketch on Tuesday.”

Nobody knows everything.

“…big challenges have a lot of nuance, and to understand it all, you need to incorporate information from many sources.”

Strategy: Start by talking to the Decider. Some useful questions to ask: “What will make this project a success?” “What’s our unique advantage or opportunity?” “What’s the biggest risk?”

Voice of the Customer: Who talks to your customers more than anyone else? Who can explain the world from their perspective? Whether this person is in sales, customer support, research, or whatever, his or her insights will likely be crucial.

How Things Work: Who understands the mechanics of your product? On your sprint team, you’ve got the people building your product or delivering your idea — the designer, the engineer, the marketer. Think about bringing in the money expert, the tech/logistics expert, and the marketing expert as well.

Previous Efforts: Often, someone on the team has already thought about the problem in detail. That person might have an idea about the solution, a failed experiment, or maybe even some work in progress. You should examine those preexisting solutions. Many sprint teams get great results by fleshing out an unfinished idea or fixing a failed one.

“Later, when you begin executing your successful solutions, the experts you brought in will probably be among your biggest supporters.”

Ask the experts.

1. Introduce the sprint
2. Review the whiteboard
3. Open the door — ask the expert to tell you everything she knows about the challenge at hand
4. Ask questions: “Can she find anything on the map that’s incomplete? Would she add any sprint questions to your list? What opportunities does she see? Tell me more about that.”
5. Fix the whiteboard. Add sprint questions. Change your map. If necessary, update your long-term goal.

“If they’re truly experts, they’ll tell you things you wouldn’t know to ask.”

How Might We Exercise.

• A technique that results in organized, prioritized notes from the entire team, and it’s pretty fast.
• Each person writes his or her own notes, on at a time, on sticky notes. At the end of the day, you’ll merge the whole group’s notes, organize them, and choose a handful of the most interesting ones.
• You take notes in the form of a question, beginning with the words “How might we…?”
• For example: “How might we re-create the cafe experience?” or “How might we ensure coffee arrives fresh?”

Take How Might We (HMW) Notes.

“Every person on the team needs his or her own pad of sticky notes (plain yellow, three by five inches) and a thick black dry-erase marker. Using thick markers on a small surface forces everyone to write succinct, easy-to-read headlines.”

To take notes, follow these steps:

1. Put the letters “HMW” in the top left corner of your sticky note.
2. Wait.
3. When you hear something interesting (talked about by an expert), convert it into a question (quietly).
4. Write the question on your sticky note.
5. Peel off the note and set it aside.

Organize How Might We Notes.

“As soon as the expert interviews are finished, everybody should gather his or her How Might We notes and stick them on the wall. Just put them up in any haphazard fashion, like this:

Themes will emerge as you go. Put notes that are similar together, similar ideas. It will be useful to label the themes (or trends). “We usually end up with “Misc” theme of notes that don’t fit anywhere else. Those misfit notes often end up being some of the best ones.”

Vote on How Might We notes.

To prioritize the notes, you’ll use dot voting.

1. Give two large dot stickers to each person.
2. Give four large dot stickers to the Decider because her opinion counts a little more.
3. Ask everyone to review the goal and sprint questions.
4. Ask everyone to vote in silence for the most useful How Might We questions.
5. It’s okay to vote for your own note, or to vote twice for the same note.

When the voting is over, take the How Might We notes with multiple votes, remove them from the wall, and find a place to stick them on your map. Most notes will probably correspond with a specific step in the story.

This is an example from one of the project the authors worked on:

“Your team will choose one specific target for the rest of your sprint’s efforts.”

Target.

“After interviewing the experts and organizing your notes, the most important part of your project should jump right out of your map, almost like a crack in the earth.”

Pick a target.

• Ask the decider to make the call for one target customer and one target event.
• Straw poll (if the Decider wants help): ask everyone on the team to choose the customer and the event each of them believes are most important and to write down those choices on a piece of paper. Once everyone has privately made a selection, register the votes on the map with a whiteboard marker. After the votes have been tallied, discuss any big differences of opinion. That should be enough input for the Decider. Turn it back over to her for the final decision.

I LOVE the above exercise described in how to help the Decider make a decision. Very nice.

“Once you’ve selected a target, take a look back at your sprint questions. You usually can’t answer all those questions in one sprint, but one or more should line up with the target.

“By Monday afternoon, you’ve identified a long-term goal and the questions to answer along the way. You’ve made a map and circled the target for your sprint. Everyone on the team will have the same information, and everyone will understand the week’s objective. Next, on Tuesday, it’ll be time to come up with solutions.”

Tuesday.

On Monday, you and your team defined the challenge and chose a target. On Tuesday, you’ll come up with solutions. The day starts with inspiration: a review of existing ideas to remix and improve. Then, in the afternoon, each person with sketch, following a four-step process that emphasizes critical thinking over artistry. Later in the week, the best of these sketches will form the plan for your prototype and test.

Remix and Improve.

“It’s like playing with Lego bricks: first gather useful components, then convert them into something original and new.”

“Sometimes, the best way to broaden your search is to look inside your own organization. Great solutions often come along at the wrong time, and the sprint can be a perfect opportunity to rejuvenate them.”

You and your team should look far afield and close at home in your search for existing solutions. If you do, you’re sure to uncover surprising and useful ideas.

Lightning Demos.

Make a list — ask everyone on your team to come up with a list of products or services to review for inspiring solutions.

Give three-minute demos — one at a time, the person who suggested each product gives a tour showing the whole team what’s cool about it.

This reminds me of competition analysis, where you basically look at other products, services, websites, designs to get inspiration for your own design, or to even see what NOT to do. I was doing this when re-designing a museum’s e-store: when I looked at one website I felt very uncomfortable as a user, it was so crammed and disorganized and unaligned; yet, a different experience of another museum’s website was like a breath of fresh air, with lots of white space for me to rest visually, big clear images, and just well-sorted content that created a trust factor for me.

Capture big ideas as you go.

• Take notes on the whiteboard as you go (someone else should probably do this while the presenter is giving a demo).
• Ask the person who’s giving the tour (demo-ing), “What’s the big idea here that might be useful?” Then make a quick drawing of that inspiring component, write a simple headline above it, and note the source underneath.

“Most won’t turn into anything, but one or two may inspire a great solution. If you look hard enough, you can usually find your blotting paper.”

Divide or swarm.

“Take a good look at your map and have a quick team discussion. If you’ve picked a super-focused target, it might be fine to skip assignments and have the whole team swarm the same part of your problem. If there are several key pieces to cover, you should divide up.”

Sketch.

Everyone can draw. Don’t be afraid of it. No one is looking for a masterpiece, just as long as it’s comprehensible.

You’ll work individually, take your time, and sketch.

Following is one of the sketch solutions to a project problem:

Sketching allows every person to develop concrete ideas while working alone.

Work along together.

Working alone offers time to do research, find inspiration, and think about the problem. And the pressure of responsibility that comes with working alone often spurs us to our best work.

The sketches you create on Tuesday will become the fuel for the rest of the sprint.

The four-step sketch.

1. You’ll start with twenty minutes to “boot up” by taking notes on the goals, opportunities, and inspiration you’ve collected around the room.
2. Then you’ll have another twenty minutes to write down rough ideas.
3. Next, it’s time to limber up and explore alternative ideas with a rapid sketching exercise called Crazy 8s.
4. And finally, you’l take thirty minutes or more to draw your solution sketch — a single well-formed concept with hall the details worked out.

1. Notes.

You and your team will walk around the room, look at the whiteboard, and take notes. These notes are a “greatest hits” from the past twenty-four hours of the sprint. They’re a way to refresh your memory before you commit to a solution.

“Don’t forget to reexamine old ideas. Remember, they’re often the strongest solutions of all.”

2. Ideas.

In this step, each person will jot down rough ideas, filling a sheet of paper with doodles, sample headlines, diagrams, stick figures doing stuff — anything that gives form to his or her thoughts.

When you’re finished, spend an extra three minutes to review and circle your favorite ideas. In the next step, you’ll refine those promising elements.

3. Crazy 8s.

Crazy 8s is a fast-paced exercise. Each person takes his or her strongest ideas and rapidly sketches eight variations in eight minutes. Push past your first reasonable solutions and make them better, or at least consider alternatives.

“Writing is often the most important component of the solution sketch.”

Sometimes Crazy 8s leads to a revelation. You might come away with several new ways of looking at your ideas. Other times, it feels less productive. Sometimes that first idea really is the best idea.

4. Solution sketch.

“These sketches will be looked at — and judged! — by the rest of the team. They need to be detailed, thought-out, and easy to understand.”

• Make it self-explanatory: Think of this sketch as the first test for your idea. If no one can understand it in sketch form, it’s not likely to do any better when it’s polished.
• Keep it anonymous: Don’t put your name on your sketch, and be sure that everyone uses the same paper and the same black pens. On Wednesday, when you evaluate everyone’s sketch, this anonymity will make it much easier to critique and choose the best idea.
• Ugly is OKAY: Your sketch does not have to be fancy (boxes, stick figures, and words are fine), but it does have to be detailed, thoughtful, and complete.
• Words matter: Choosing the right words is critical in every medium. Text will go a long way to explain your idea — so make it good and make it real.
• Give it a catchy title: Titles are a way to draw attention to the big idea in your solution sketch.

“Each person is responsible for creating one solution sketch.”

Recruit customers with Craigslist.

• On Monday or Tuesday, we start the process of finding customers for Friday’s test. That means one person needs to do some extra work outside of the sprint.
• When it comes to finding customers through Craigslist, the secret is to post a generic ad that will attract a broad audience, then link to a screener survey to narrow down to your target customers.
• You want to be sure you don’t reveal what you’re testing or the kind of customer you’re seeking, to avoid bias.
• We offer a small stipend or token or appreciation — usually a $100 gift card — to pique the interest of potential customers.

Write a screener survey.

• Write questions for every one of your criteria. It’s important to write questions that don’t reveal the “right” answers.
• Some example questions: “In a typical week, how many times do you eat out?” OR “Do you regularly read blogs or magazines dedicated to any of the following topics: Sports, Food, News, Coffee, Parenting…” etc. You want to make the list as selection list that responders can choose from.

Recruit customers through your network.

Finding existing customers is generally pretty easy. You probably already have the means to reach them — consider email newsletters, in-store posters, Twitter, Facebook, or even your own website.

For the Friday’s test, you only need 5 participants to get good results. So, with only five interviews, it’s important to talk to the right people who would be your ideal customers.

“The entire sprint depends on getting good data in Friday’s test, so whoever takes charge of recruiting your customers should take the job seriously.”

Wednesday.

“By Wednesday morning, you and your team will have a stack of solutions. That’s great, but it’s also a problem. You can’t prototype and test them all — you need one solid plan. In the morning, you’ll critique each solution, and decide which ones have the best chance of achieving your long-term goal. Then, in the afternoon, you’ll take the winning scenes from your sketches and weave them into a storyboard: a step-by-step plan for your prototype.”

Decide.

When we jump from option to option, it’s difficult to hold important details in our head.

Your goal for Wednesday morning is to decide which solutions to prototype.

In the book the authors describe a process through which they have led teams in various companies in helping them decide on what to prototype. I will describe this process here.

The Sticky Decision.

1. Art museum: Put the solution sketches on the wall with masking tape.
2. Heat map: Look at all the solutions in silence, and use dot stickers to mark interesting parts.
3. Speed critique: Quickly discuss the highlights of each solution, and use sticky notes to capture big ideas.
4. Straw poll: Each person chooses one solution, and votes for it with a dot sticker.
5. Supervote: The Decider makes the final decision, with — you guessed it — more stickers. Ha! :)

1. Art museum.

When you first arrive on Wednesday morning, nobody has seen the solution sketches yet. We want everybody to take a good long look at each one. Use masking tape to stick the sketches on a wall. Space them out in a long row. This spacing allows the team to spread out and take their time examining each sketch without crowding.

2. Heat map.

The heat map ensures you make the most of your first, uninformed look at the sketches. So before the team begins looking, hand everyone a bunch of small dot stickers (twenty to thirty dots each). Then each person follows these steps:

1. Don’t talk.

2. Look at a solution sketch.

3. Put dot stickers beside the parts you like (if any).

4. Put two or three dots on the most exciting ideas.

5. If you have a concern or a question, write it on a sticky note and place it below the sketch.

6. Move on to the next sketch, and repeat.

There are no limits or rules for these dots. If people want to put dots on their own sketch, they should. If people run out of dots, give them more. By the end, you’ll have something like this:

3. Speed critique.

In the speed critique, you and your team will discuss each solution sketch and make note of standout ideas. The conversation will follow a structure — and a time limit. The first time you do it, it might feel uncomfortable and rushed, and it might be hard to keep track of all the steps. But it won’t take long to get the nag of it.

Here’s how the speed critique works:

1. Gather around the solution sketch.
2. Set a timer for three minutes.
3. The Facilitator narrates the sketch. (“Here it looks like a customer is clicking to play a video, and then clicking over to the details page…”)
4. The Facilitator calls out standout ideas that have clusters of stickers by them. (“Lots of dots by the animated video…”)
5. The team calls out standout ideas that the Facilitator missed.
6. The Scribe writes standout ideas on sticky notes and sticks them above the sketch. Give each idea a simple name, like “Animated Video” or “One-Step Signup.”
7. Review concerns and questions.
8. The creator of the sketch remains silent until the end. (“Creator, reveal your identity and tell us what we missed!”)
9. The creator explains any missed ideas that the team failed to spot, and answers any questions.
10. Move to the next sketch and repeat. :)

If the inventor pitched his or her idea, the rest of the team would have a harder time being critical or negative.

4. Straw poll.

Think of the straw poll as a way to give your Decider some advice. It’s a straightforward exercise:

1. Give everyone one vote (represented by a big dot sticker).
2. Remind everyone of the long-term goal and sprint questions.
3. Remind everyone to err on the side of the risky ideas with big potential.
4. Set a timer for ten minutes.
5. Each person privately writes down his or her choice. It could be a whole sketch, or just one idea in a sketch.
6. When time is up, or when everyone is finished, place the votes on the sketches.
7. Each person briefly explains his or her vote (only spend about one minute per person).

5. Supervote.

Each Decider will get three special votes (with the Decider’s initials on them!), and whatever they vote for is what your team will prototype and test.

Rumble.