What is the Design Sprint 2.0?

The Design Sprint (2.0) is a four-day workshop that is being used by more and more organizations to accelerate innovation. The Design Sprint is a (team) process for developing ideas quickly and inexpensively and validating them by testing prototypes with real customers.

The original five-day Design Sprint (1.0) was ‘invented’ by Jake Knapp. In his book “How To Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days” (2014) he summarizes these as:

“The ‘greatest hits’ of business strategy, innovation, behavioral science, and more — packaged into a step-by-step process that any team can use.”

The Design Sprint 2.0 includes the following team activities, spread over four days:

Day 1: Problem. Map the problem and choose an important area to focus on in terms of solution

Day 2: Solution and decision making. Brainstorm and sketch possible solutions on paper. Choose the idea with the most potential and make a storyboard that indicates the working of the idea

Day 3: Prototype. As a team, assemble a prototype that is realistic enough to be able to test with real users

Day 4: Test. Test live with real users to validate the solution

How do I prepare for a Design Sprint?

Block 4 days in the entire team’s calendar. Mobile phones, tablets, and/or laptops are not allowed in the room. An exception can be made for a smartwatch, as long as the messaging is set to snooze. This ensures that the entire team is and can stay focused for 4 days.

You will also need a large amount of yellow and blue post-its, Sharpie markers, red/green/yellow stickers, a stack of blank A4 to write down ideas, cutting and pasting tools, a room that can be booked for four full days, with a lot of wall space, beamer, whiteboards, and windows for sufficient daylight, snacks for the sugar, a Blue Tooth speaker to play music, tape, a camera to register the group process, and a flipchart.