Full Title: Sprint. How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Highlights
The ideas that went on to launch and become successful were not generated in the shout- out- loud brainstorms. The best ideas came from somewhere else. But where? Individuals were still thinking up ideas the same way they always had— while sitting at their desks, or waiting at a coffee shop, or taking a shower. Those individual- generated ideas were better. (Location 68)
created a rough schedule for my first sprint: a day of sharing information and sketching ideas, followed by four days of prototyping. Once again, Google teams welcomed the experiment. I led sprints for Chrome, Google Search, Gmail, and other projects. (Location 93)
The sprint is GV’s unique five- day process for answering crucial questions through prototyping and testing ideas with customers. It’s a “greatest hits” of business strategy, innovation, behavioral science, design, and more— packaged into a step- by- step process that any team can use. (Location 173)
Good ideas are hard to find. And even the best ideas face an uncertain path to real- world success. (Location 253)
Execution can be difficult. What’s the most important place to focus your effort, and how do you start? What will your idea look like in real life? Should you assign one smart person to figure it out or have the whole team brainstorm? And how do you know when you’ve got the right solution? How many meetings and discussions does it take before you can be sure? And, once it’s done, will anybody care? (Location 254)
The sprint gives our startups a superpower: They can fast- forward into the future to see their finished product and customer reactions, before making any expensive commitments. When a risky idea succeeds in a sprint, the payoff is fantastic. But it’s the failures that, while painful, provide the greatest return on investment. Identifying critical flaws after just five days of work is the height of efficiency. It’s learning the hard way, without the “hard way.” (Location 263)
This book is a DIY guide for running your own sprint to answer your pressing business questions. On Monday , you’ll map out the problem and pick an important place to focus. On Tuesday , you’ll sketch competing solutions on paper. On Wednesday , you’ll make difficult decisions and turn your ideas into a testable hypothesis. On Thursday , you’ll hammer out a realistic prototype. And on Friday , you’ll test it with real live humans. (Location 271)
If you’re familiar with lean development or design thinking, you’ll find the sprint is a practical way to apply those philosophies. If your team uses “agile” processes, you’ll find that our definition of “sprint” is different, but complementary. (Location 280)
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. (Location 289)
If you’re starting a project that will take months or years— like Blue Bottle and their new online store— a sprint makes an excellent kickoff. But sprints aren’t only for long- term projects. (Location 366)
Here are three challenging situations where sprints can help: High Stakes Like Blue Bottle Coffee, you’re facing a big problem and the solution will require a lot of time and money. It’s as if you’re the captain of a ship. A sprint is your chance to check the navigation charts and steer in the right direction before going full steam ahead. Not Enough Time You’re up against a deadline, like Savioke rushing to get their robot ready for the hotel pilot. You need good solutions, fast. As the name suggests, a sprint is built for speed. Just Plain Stuck Some important projects are hard to start. Others lose momentum along the way. In these situations, a sprint can be a booster rocket: a fresh approach to problem solving that helps you escape gravity’s clutches. (Location 368)
When we talk to startups about sprints, we encourage them to go after their most important problem. Running a sprint requires a lot of energy and focus. Don’t go for the small win, or the nice- to- have project, because people won’t bring their best efforts. They probably won’t even clear their schedules in the first place. (Location 376)
No problem is too large for a sprint. Yes, this statement sounds absurd, but there are two big reasons why it’s true. First, the sprint forces your team to focus on the most pressing questions. Second, the sprint allows you to learn from just the surface of a finished product. Blue Bottle could use a slide show to prototype the surface of a website— before they built the software and inventory processes to make it really work. (Location 394)
Solve the surface first The surface is important. It’s where your product or service meets customers. Human beings are complex and fickle, so it’s impossible to predict how they’ll react to a brand- new solution. When our new ideas fail, it’s usually because we were overconfident about how well customers would understand and how much they would care. 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, which is why any challenge, no matter how large, can benefit from a sprint. (Location 398)
You and your team put your talents, time, and energy to their best use, taking on an overwhelming challenge and using your wits (and a little trickery) to overcome every obstacle that crosses your path. To pull it off, you need the right team. You shouldn’t need a pickpocket, but you will need a leader and a set of diverse skills. (Location 410)
To build the perfect sprint team, first you’re going to need a Danny Ocean: someone with authority to make decisions. That person is the Decider, a role so important we went ahead and capitalized it. The Decider is the official decision- maker for the project. At many startups we work with, it’s a founder or CEO. At bigger companies, it might be a VP, a product manager, or another team leader. These Deciders generally understand the problem in depth, and they often have strong opinions and criteria to help find the right solution. (Location 413)
Get a Decider (or two) The Decider must be involved in the sprint. If you, dear reader, are the Decider, clear your schedule and get in the room. If you’re not, you must convince the Decider to join. You might feel nervous; after all, it’s a big time commitment for a new process. If your Decider is reluctant, try one or more (Location 429)
Rapid Progress Emphasize the amount of progress you’ll make in your sprint: In just one week, you’ll have a realistic prototype. Some Deciders are not excited about customer tests (at least, until they see one firsthand), but almost everyone loves fast results. It’s an Experiment Consider your first sprint an experiment. When it’s over, the Decider can help evaluate how effective it was. We’ve found that many people who are hesitant to change the way they work are open to a onetime experiment. Explain the Tradeoffs Show the Decider a list of big meetings and work items you and your team will miss during the sprint week. Tell her which items you will skip and which you will postpone, and why. It’s About Focus Be honest about your motivations. If the quality of your work is suffering because your team’s regular work schedule is too scattered, say so. Tell the Decider that instead of doing an okay job on everything, you’ll do an excellent job on one thing. (Location 433)
If the Decider agrees to the sprint but can’t spare a full week, invite her to join you at a few key points. On Monday, she can share her perspective on the problem. On Wednesday, she can help choose the right idea to test. And on Friday, she should stop by to see how customers react to the prototype. (Location 443)
If she’s only going to make cameo appearances, your Decider needs to have an official delegate in the room. (Location 445)
And if your Decider doesn’t believe the sprint to be worthwhile? If she won’t even stop by for a cameo? Hold up! That’s a giant red flag. You might have the wrong project. Take your time, talk with the Decider, and figure out which big challenge would be better. (Location 449)
Once you’ve got a Decider (or two) committed to the sprint, it’s time to assemble your sprint team. These are the people who will be in the room with you, all day, every day during the sprint. On Monday, they’ll work with you to understand the problem and choose which part to focus on. Throughout the week, they’ll be the ones sketching solutions, critiquing ideas, building the prototype, and watching the customer interviews. (Location 452)
Ocean’s Seven We’ve found the ideal size for a sprint to be seven people or fewer. With eight people, or nine, or more, the sprint moves more slowly, and you’ll have to work harder to keep everyone focused and productive. With seven or fewer, everything is easier. (Location 455)
So who should you include? Of course you’ll want some of the folks who build the product or run the service— the engineers, designers, product managers, and so on. After all, they know how your company’s products and services work and they might already have ideas about the problem at hand. But you shouldn’t limit your sprint team to just those who normally work together. Sprints are most successful with a mix of people: the core people who work on execution along with a few extra experts with specialized knowledge. (Location 459)
In other sprints, we’ve had winning solutions come from cardiologists, mathematicians, and farming consultants. The common traits they all shared? They had deep expertise and they were excited about the challenge. Those are people you want in your sprint. (Location 467)
Choosing whom to include isn’t always easy, so we’ve created a cheat sheet. You don’t have to include each and every role listed here. And for some roles, you might choose two or three. Just remember that a mix is good. Decider Who makes decisions for your team? Perhaps it’s the CEO, or maybe it’s just the “CEO” of this particular project. If she can’t join for the whole time, make sure she makes a couple of appearances and delegates a Decider (or two) who can be in the room at all times. Examples: CEO, founder, product manager, head of design Finance expert Who can explain where the money comes from (and where it goes)? Examples: CEO, CFO, business development manager Marketing expert Who crafts your company’s messages? Examples: CMO, marketer, PR, community manager Customer expert Who regularly talks to your customers one- on- one? Examples: researcher, sales, customer support Tech/ logistics expert Who best understands what your company can build and deliver? Examples: CTO, engineer Design expert Who designs the products your company makes? Examples: designer, product manager (Location 470)
The word “team” is pretty cheap, but in a sprint, a team is really a team . You’ll be working side by side for five days. By Friday, you’ll be a problem- solving machine, and you’ll share a deep understanding of the challenge and the possible solutions. This collaborative atmosphere makes the sprint a great time to include people who don’t necessarily agree with you. (Location 486)
Bring the troublemaker Before every sprint, we ask: Who might cause trouble if he or she isn’t included? We don’t mean people who argue just for the sake of arguing. We mean that smart person who has strong, contrary opinions, and whom you might be slightly uncomfortable with including in your sprint. This advice is partially defensive. If the troublemaker is in the room, even just for a guest appearance, he or she will feel included and invested in the project. But there’s a more important reason. Troublemakers see problems differently from everyone else. Their crazy idea about solving the problem might just be right. And even if it’s wrong, the presence of a dissenting view will push everyone else to do better work. (Location 490)
Often, when we list out all of the people we want in a sprint, we have more than seven. That’s okay. It’s a sign of a strong team! But you’ll have to make tough decisions. We can’t tell you which seven people to include, but we can make it easier by telling you what to do with the rest. (Location 497)
If you have more than seven people you think should participate in your sprint, schedule the extras to come in as “experts” for a short visit on Monday afternoon. During their visit, they can tell the rest of the team what they know and share their opinions. (We’ll tell you all about the Ask the Experts process starting on page 68 .) A half an hour should be plenty of time for each expert. It’s an efficient way to boost the diversity of perspectives while keeping your team small and nimble. (Location 501)
Now you’ve got your Decider, your sprinters, and some extra experts coming in for visits. Your team is all set. Except … oh yeah. Somebody’s got to run the sprint. (Location 504)
Pick a Facilitator Brad Pitt’s character in Ocean’s Eleven , Rusty Ryan, is the logistics guy. He keeps the heist running. You need someone to be the Rusty Ryan of your sprint. This person is the Facilitator, and she’s responsible for managing time, conversations, and the overall process. She needs to be confident leading a meeting, including summarizing discussions and telling people it’s time to stop talking and move on. It’s an important job. (Location 506)
The Facilitator needs to remain unbiased about decisions, so it’s not a good idea to combine the Decider and Facilitator roles in one person. It often works well to bring in an outsider who doesn’t normally work with your team to be the Facilitator, but it’s not a requirement. (Location 511)
Sprints are the same way. Each expert in the room will provide a key contribution— whether it’s background information, a fresh idea, or even a shrewd observation of your customers. Exactly what they’ll say and do is impossible to predict. But with the right team in place, unexpected solutions will appear. (Location 518)
The typical day in the typical office goes something like this: This day is long and busy, but it’s not necessarily productive . Every meeting, email, and phone call fragments attention and prevents real work from getting done. Taken together, these interruptions are a wasp’s nest dropped into the picnic of productivity. (Location 530)
No doubt about it: Fragmentation hurts productivity. Of course, nobody wants to work this way. We all want to get important work done. And we know that meaningful work, especially the kind of creative effort needed to solve big problems, requires long, uninterrupted blocks of time. That’s one of the best aspects of a sprint: It gives you an excuse to work the way you want to work, with a clear calendar and one important goal to address. There are no context switches between different projects, and no random interruptions. (Location 537)
A sprint day looks like this: You’ll start at 10 a.m. and end at 5 p.m., with an hour- long lunch in between. That’s right: There are only six working hours in the typical sprint day. Longer hours don’t equal better results. By getting the right people together, structuring the activities, and eliminating distraction, we’ve found that it’s possible to make rapid progress while working a reasonable schedule. (Location 541)
Block five full days on the calendar This step is obvious, but important. The sprint team must be in the same room Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday’s test starts a little earlier, at 9 a.m. Why five days? We tried shorter sprints, but they were exhausting and didn’t allow time to build and test a prototype. We’ve experimented with a six- week sprint, a monthlong sprint, and a ten- day sprint. We never accomplished significantly more than we did in a week. Weekends caused a loss of continuity. Distractions and procrastination crept in. And more time to work made us more attached to our ideas and, in turn, less willing to learn from our colleagues or our customers. Five (Location 548)
Your team will take a short morning break (around 11: 30 a.m.), an hour- long lunch (around 1 p.m.), and a short afternoon break (around 3: 30 p.m.). These breaks are a sort of “pressure- release valve,” allowing people to rest their brains and catch up on work happening outside the sprint. Inside the sprint room, everybody will be 100 percent focused on the sprint’s challenge. The entire team must shut their laptops and put away their phones. (Location 557)
The no- device rule In a sprint, time is precious, and we can’t afford distractions in the room. So we have a simple rule: No laptops, phones, or iPads allowed. (Location 561)
To make sure nobody misses anything important, there are two exceptions to the no- device rule: 1. It’s okay to check your device during a break. 2. It’s okay to leave the room to check your device. At any time. No judgment. Take a call, check an email, tweet a Tweet, whatever— just take it outside. We also use devices for some specific purposes: when we need to show something to the whole team, and on Thursday for prototyping. (Location 568)
Let people know ahead of time that the sprint will be device- free, and also let them know that they can step out of the room at any time. That escape hatch allows busy people to participate in the sprint without losing track of their regular jobs. The combination of a clear schedule and no devices gives your team a huge supply of raw attention. (Location 572)
We’ve found that magic happens when we use big whiteboards to solve problems. As humans, our short- term memory is not all that good, but our spatial memory is awesome. A sprint room, plastered with notes, diagrams, printouts, and more, takes advantage of that spatial memory. The room itself becomes a sort of shared brain for the team. As our friend Tim Brown, CEO of the design firm IDEO, writes in his book Change by Design: “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.” (Location 589)
At minimum, you’ll need two big whiteboards. That will provide enough space to do most of the sprint activities (you’ll still have to take photos and do some erasing and reorganizing as you go) and enough to keep the most important notes visible for the entire week. (Location 595)
If there aren’t two whiteboards already mounted to the wall in your sprint room, there are a few easy ways to add more: Rolling Whiteboards These come in small and giant sizes. The small ones have a lot of unusable space down by the floor, and they shake when you draw on them. The giant ones cost a lot more, but they’re actually usable. IdeaPaint IdeaPaint is paint that turns regular walls into whiteboards. It works great on smooth walls, and less great on rough walls. One word of advice: If you use IdeaPaint, be sure to paint all the walls. If you don’t, it’s just a matter of time before somebody writes on the non- IdeaPaint wall by accident. Paper If you can’t get hold of whiteboards, paper is better than nothing. Those poster- size Post- it notes are pricey but easy to arrange and swap when you make mistakes. Butcher paper provides serious surface area, but sticking it to the wall requires serious ingenuity. (Location 597)
Stock up on the right supplies Before starting your sprint, you’ll need a bunch of basic office supplies, including sticky notes, markers, pens, Time Timers (see below), and regular old printer paper. You’ll also need healthy snacks to keep up the team’s energy. (Location 612)
We use Time Timers in our sprints to mark small chunks of time, anywhere from three minutes to one hour. These tiny deadlines give everyone an added sense of focus and urgency. Now, there are plenty of ways to keep time that don’t require a special device, but the Time Timer is worth the extra cost. Because it’s a large mechanical object, it’s visible to everyone in the room in a way that no phone or iPad app could ever be. And unlike with a traditional clock, no math or memory is required to figure out how much time is remaining. When time is visible, it becomes easy to understand and discuss, and that’s as important for a team of professionals as it was for Jan’s daughter Loran. (Location 635)
If you’re the Facilitator, using the Time Timer comes with two extra benefits. First, it makes you look like you know what you’re doing. After all, you’ve got a crazy clock! Second, 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. (Location 641)
“I’m going to use this timer to keep things moving. When it goes off, it’s a reminder to us to see if we can move on to the next topic. If you’re talking when the timer beeps, just keep talking, and I’ll add a little more time. It’s a guideline, not a fire alarm.” The first time you set it, people’s eyes may get big, and blood pressure may rise a little. But give it a chance. By the afternoon, they’ll be used to it, and most likely, they’ll want to take it with them after the sprint. (Location 645)
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. (Location 650)
He grabs a piece of chalk and draws a simple diagram on the blackboard. It’s a map showing the damaged spacecraft’s path from outer space, around the moon, and (hopefully) back to the earth’s surface— a trip that will take more than two days. The goal is clear: To get the astronauts home safely, Mission Control has to keep them alive and on the right course for every minute of that journey. Mission Control’s blackboard looked sort of like this. Throughout the film, Kranz returns to that goal on the blackboard. In the chaos of Mission Control, the simple diagram helps keep the team focused on the right problems. First, they correct the ship’s course to ensure it won’t veer into deep space. Next, they replace a failing air filter so the astronauts can breathe. And only then do they turn their attention to a safe landing. (Location 659)
When a big problem comes along, like the challenge you selected for your sprint, it’s natural to want to solve it right away. The clock is ticking, the team is amped up, and solutions start popping into everyone’s mind. But if you don’t first slow down, share what you know, and prioritize, you could end up wasting time and effort on the wrong part of the problem. (Location 668)
NASA got organized and sorted their priorities before they started on solutions. That’s smart. And that’s the same way your team will start your sprint. (Location 673)
Monday begins with an exercise we call Start at the End : a look ahead— to the end of the sprint week and beyond. Like Gene Kranz and his diagram of the return to planet earth, you and your team will lay out the basics: your long- term goal and the difficult questions that must be answered. Starting at the end is like being handed the keys to a time machine. If you could jump ahead to the end of your sprint, what questions would be answered? (Location 675)
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?” The discussion could take anywhere from thirty seconds to thirty minutes. If your team doesn’t quite agree about the goal or there’s any lack of clarity, don’t be embarrassed. But do have a discussion and figure it out. Slowing down might be frustrating for a moment, but the satisfaction and confidence of a clear goal will last all week. (Location 681)
Your goal should reflect your team’s principles and aspirations. Don’t worry about overreaching. The sprint process will help you find a good place to start and make real progress toward even the biggest goal. 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. (Location 692)
Lurking beneath every goal are dangerous assumptions. The longer those assumptions remain unexamined, the greater the risk. In your sprint, you have a golden opportunity to ferret out assumptions, turn them into questions, and find some answers. (Location 698)
You’ll list out your sprint questions on a second whiteboard (if you have one). We have a few prompts for getting teams to think about assumptions and questions:• 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. (Location 706)
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? This rephrasing conversation might feel a little weird. Normal people don’t have conversations like this one (unless they’re Jeopardy! contestants). But 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). (Location 713)
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. (Location 721)
The map is a big deal throughout the week. At the end of the day on Monday, you’ll use the map to narrow your broad challenge into a specific target for the sprint. Later in the week, the map will provide structure for your solution sketches and prototype. It helps you keep track of how everything fits together, and it eases the burden on each person’s short- term memory. (Location 734)
Clinical trials provide access to the latest treatments. For some patients, that means drugs which might save their lives. But trials aren’t just about new drugs— they’re also about better data. The data from every trial is collected and organized, helping researchers learn about the efficacy of new and existing therapies. But in the United States, only 4 percent of all cancer patients are in clinical trials. The other 96 percent of cancer treatment data is unavailable to doctors and researchers who might use it to better understand the disease and better treat future patients. Flatiron wanted to make trials available to anyone who was eligible. They hoped to build a software tool to help cancer clinics match patients to trials— a painstaking job to do manually, and perhaps the biggest hurdle to trial enrollment. (Location 753)
Flatiron Health’s long- term goal and sprint questions. (Location 780)
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. So now that you know what a map looks like, you’re ready to make your own. (Location 801)
Make a map You’ll draw the first draft of your map on Monday morning, as soon as you’ve written down your long- term goal and sprint questions. Use the same whiteboard you wrote your goal on and dive in. (Location 803)
List the actors (on the left) The “actors” are all the important characters in your story. Most often, they’re different kinds of customers. Sometimes, people other than customers— say, your sales team or a government regulator— are important actors and should be listed as well. And sometimes, of course, there’s a robot. 2. Write the ending (on the right) It’s usually a lot easier to figure out the end than the middle of the story. Flatiron’s story ended with treatment. Savioke’s story ended with a delivery. And Blue Bottle’s story ended with buying coffee. 3. Words and arrows in between The map should be functional, not a work of art. Words and arrows and the occasional box should be enough. No drawing expertise required. 4. Keep it simple Your map should have from five to around fifteen steps. If there are more than twenty, it’s probably too complicated. By keeping the map simple, the team can agree on the structure of the problem without getting tied up in competing solutions. 5. Ask for help As you draw, you should keep asking the team, “Does this map look right?” You should be able to make the first quick draft of your map in thirty to sixty minutes. Don’t be surprised if you continue to update and correct it throughout the day as you discuss the problem. We never get ours right the first time, but you have to start somewhere. (Location 807)
Most of Monday afternoon is devoted to an exercise we call Ask the Experts : a series of one- at- a- time interviews with people from your sprint team, from around your company, and possibly even an outsider or two with special knowledge. As you go, each member of your team will take notes individually. 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. (Location 835)
What Wendy taught us was that big challenges have a lot of nuance, and to understand it all, you need to incorporate information from many sources. Nobody knows everything, not even the CEO. Instead, the information is distributed asymmetrically across the team and across the company. In the sprint, you’ve got to gather it and make sense of it, and asking the experts is the best and fastest way to do that. (Location 858)
We think it’s useful to have at least one expert who can talk about each of these topics: Strategy Start by talking to the Decider. If the Decider is not going to be in the sprint the whole time, be sure she joins you on Monday afternoon. 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? Wendy is a prime example of a customer expert. 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. Savioke interviewed roboticists, Blue Bottle interviewed baristas, and Flatiron interviewed oncologists. Think about bringing in the money expert, the tech/ logistics expert, and the marketing expert as well. We frequently talk with two, three, or four “how things work” experts to help us understand how everything fits together. 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. Savioke, for instance, had nearly all the pieces of their robot personality before the sprint, but hadn’t had the opportunity to assemble them. (Location 862)
By asking people for their input early in the process, you help them feel invested in the outcome. Later, when you begin executing your successful solutions, the experts you brought in will probably be among your biggest supporters. (Location 878)
Allow half an hour for each conversation, although you likely won’t use all of that time. Once the expert is ready, we follow a simple script to keep things moving. 1. Introduce the sprint If the expert isn’t part of the sprint team, tell her what the sprint is about. 2. Review the whiteboards Give the expert a two- minute tour of the long- term goal, sprint questions, and map. 3. Open the door Ask the expert to tell you everything she knows about the challenge at hand. 4. Ask questions The sprint team should act like a bunch of reporters digging for a story. Ask the expert to fill in areas where she has extra expertise. Ask her to retell you what she thinks you already know. And most important, ask the expert to tell you where you’ve got it wrong. Can she find anything on your map that’s incomplete? Would she add any sprint questions to your list? What opportunities does she see? Useful phrases are “Why?” and “Tell me more about that.” 5. Fix the whiteboards Add sprint questions. Change your map. If necessary, update your long- term goal. Your experts are here to tell you what you didn’t know (or forgot) in the morning, so don’t be shy about making revisions. (Location 881)
The method is called How Might We . It was developed at Procter & Gamble in the 1970s, but we learned about it from the design agency IDEO. It works this way: Each person writes his or her own notes, one 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. These standout notes will help you make a decision about which part of the map to target, and on Tuesday, they’ll give you ideas for your sketches. (Location 905)
Some of Blue Bottle Coffee’s How Might We notes. (Location 912)
Take How Might We 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. II 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, convert it into a question (quietly). 4. Write the question on your sticky note. 5. Peel off the note and set it aside. Each person will end up with a little stack of notes— you’ll organize them later. (Location 919)
The “Remind us” phrase is also a nice way to make your expert feel comfortable. Bobby didn’t need that— he’s a confident public speaker— but by asking questions in this way, you can draw out great information from even the quietest person on your team. (Location 955)
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: First, put up the How Might We notes without any organization. Wow, what a mess! Now you’ll organize the notes into groups. Working together, find How Might We questions with similar themes and physically group them together on the wall. You won’t know what themes to use ahead of time. Instead, the themes will emerge as you go. (Location 973)
As the organization goes on, it’ll be useful to label the themes. Just write a title on a fresh sticky note and put it above the group. (We usually end up with a “Misc” theme of notes that don’t fit anywhere else. Those misfit notes often end up being some of the best ones.) Organize into groups, and give each group a label. (Location 982)
Vote on How Might We notes To prioritize the notes, you’ll use dot voting. It’s one of our favorite shortcuts for skipping lengthy debate. Dot voting works pretty much the way it sounds: 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. At the end of the voting, you’ll have clusters of dots on a few How Might We notes, and the whole wall will be prioritized. Use dots to vote for the most promising questions. 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. Here’s Flatiron’s map again: Flatiron Health’s map with top How Might We notes. (Location 987)
Your final task on Monday is to choose a target for your sprint. Who is the most important customer, and what’s the critical moment of that customer’s experience? The rest of the sprint will flow from this decision. Throughout the week, you’ll be focused on that target— sketching solutions, making a plan, and building a prototype of that moment and the events around it. (Location 1026)
Once you’ve clustered your team’s How Might We notes, the decision about where to focus your sprint will likely be easy. It’s the place on your map where you have the biggest opportunity to do something great (and also, perhaps, the greatest risk of failure). (Location 1064)
Pick a target The Decider needs to choose one target customer and one target event on the map. Whatever she chooses will become the focus of the rest of the sprint— the sketches, prototype, and test all flow from this decision. (Location 1066)
Ask the Decider to make the call It’s easiest if the Decider just makes the decision without a lot of discussion and process. After all, you’ve been discussing and processing all day. By Monday afternoon, most Deciders will be able to make the decision as easily as Amy did. But sometimes, the Decider wants input before she chooses. If that’s the case, conduct a quick, silent “straw poll” to collect opinions from the team. 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. 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. (Location 1069)
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. (Location 1082)
FACILITATOR NOTES 1. Ask for permission You may feel nervous about managing the group. That’s natural. Even the most experienced Facilitators get nervous. And since structured meetings are uncommon in most companies, your team may not be used to the idea. What should you do to start things off right? (Location 1085)
Tell the team you’re going to facilitate and that you’ll keep track of time and process so they don’t have to. Then just say, “Sound okay?” Don’t expect everyone to shout “Yes!” in unison, but because you laid it out there, and because you gave them the opportunity to object (which they likely won’t), everyone will feel better about the dynamic. More importantly, so will you. (Location 1089)
ABC: Always be capturing We don’t want to freak you out, but if you’re playing the role of Facilitator, Monday is your busiest day. In addition to leading the group through all of the activities, you’re responsible for something simple but important: recording key ideas on the whiteboard. Or as entrepreneur Josh Porter likes to say: “Always be capturing.” All day Monday, the Facilitator should have a whiteboard marker in her hand. Throughout the day, you’ll synthesize the team’s discussion into notes on the whiteboard. (Location 1093)
you go, ask the team, “Does this look right?” or “How should I capture that?” And when the conversation starts to stall out, you can nudge it to conclusion by saying, “Is there a good way we can capture this thinking and move on?” (Location 1099)
the whiteboard is the shared brain of the team. Keep it organized and you’ll help everyone be smarter, remember more, and make better decisions, faster. (Location 1101)
Ask obvious questions The Facilitator needs to say “Why?” a lot and ask questions to which everybody already knows the answer. Covering the obvious ensures there’s no misinterpretation, and it often draws out important details that not everyone knows about. In our sprints with startups, we have an unfair advantage: We’re outsiders who don’t know anything, so our dumb questions are genuine. In your sprint, you’ll have to act like an outsider. (Location 1103)
Take care of the humans As Facilitator, you’re not only running the sprint— you’ve got to keep your sprint team focused and energized. Here are some of our tricks: Take frequent breaks Breaks are important. We like to take a ten- minute break every sixty to ninety minutes, since that’s about as long as anyone can stay focused on one task or exercise. Breaks also give everyone an opportunity to have a snack and get coffee. When the team is not hungry and/ or suffering from caffeine withdrawal, your job as Facilitator is much easier. Lunch late Eat lunch at 1 p.m., and you’ll miss the rush at most cafeterias or restaurants. It also splits the day neatly in half. You’ll work for three hours, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., then another three, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eat light and often Provide good, nutritious snacks in the morning and throughout the day. And be careful of eating a heavy lunch. No burritos, pizza, foot- long subs, or all- you- can- eat buffets. (Location 1107)
Decide and move on Throughout the sprint week, there are many large and small decisions. For the biggest decisions, we’ve given you a script (like Monday’s target, or the narrowing of sketches you’ll find on Wednesday). But you’ll have to handle some smaller decisions on your own. Slow decisions sap energy and threaten the timeline of the sprint. Don’t let the group dissolve into unproductive debates that aren’t moving you toward a decision. When a decision is slow or not obvious, it’s your job as Facilitator to call on the Decider. She should make the decision so the team can keep moving. (Location 1120)
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 will 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. We hope you had a good night’s sleep and a balanced breakfast, because Tuesday is an important day. (Location 1126)
great innovation is built on existing ideas, repurposed with vision. (Location 1145)
You’ll begin Tuesday morning by searching for existing ideas you can use in the afternoon to inform your solution. It’s like playing with Lego bricks: first gather useful components, then convert them into something original and new. (Location 1148)
Our method for collecting and synthesizing these existing ideas is an exercise we call Lightning Demos . Your team will take turns giving three- minute tours of their favorite solutions: from other products, from different domains, and from within your own company. This exercise is about finding raw materials, not about copying your competitors. We’ve found limited benefit in looking at products from the same industry. Time and time again, the ideas that spark the best solutions come from similar problems in different environments. (Location 1150)
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. (Location 1163)
Lightning Demos Lightning Demos are pretty informal. Here’s how they work: Make a list Ask everyone on your team to come up with a list of products or services to review for inspiring solutions. (Coming up with these lists on the spot is easier than it sounds— but if you like, you can assign it as homework on Monday night.) Remind people to think outside of your industry or field, and to consider inspiration from within the company. (Location 1175)
Everything you review should contain something good you can learn from. It’s not helpful to review crummy products. After a few minutes of thinking, everyone should narrow down to his or her top one or two products. Write the collected list on the whiteboard. (Location 1183)
Give three- minute demos One at a time, the person who suggested each product gives a tour— showing the whole team what’s so cool about it. It’s a good idea to keep a timer going: Each tour should be around three minutes long. (In case you’re wondering, yes, you can use laptops, phones, and other devices for these tours. We like to connect them to a big screen so everyone can easily see.) (Location 1185)
Capture big ideas as you go Your three- minute Lightning Demos will go by quickly, and you don’t want to rely on short- term memory to keep track of all the good ideas. Remember the “Always be capturing” mantra and take notes on the whiteboard as you go. Start by asking the person who’s giving the tour, “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. (Location 1189)
Flatiron found plenty of interesting elements, but in the end they discarded most of them. If you record on the whiteboard as you go, you don’t have to decide which ideas should be discarded and which are worth remixing and improving. You can figure that out later, when you sketch— a much more efficient use of your energy. (Location 1199)
By the end of your Lightning Demos, you should have a whiteboard full of ten to twenty ideas. That’s enough to make sure you’ve captured each person’s best inspiration— but it’s a small enough set that you won’t be overwhelmed when you start to sketch. (Location 1202)
When you combine the ideas you just captured with Monday’s map, your sprint questions, and your How Might We notes, you’ve got a wealth of raw material. In the afternoon, you’ll turn that raw material into solutions. But before you do, you need to form a quick strategy. (Location 1206)
Divide or swarm Should you divide the problem? 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. (Location 1215)
We’re asking you to sketch because we’re convinced it’s the fastest and easiest way to transform abstract ideas into concrete solutions. Once your ideas become concrete, they can be critically and fairly evaluated by the rest of the team— without any sales pitch. And, perhaps most important of all, sketching allows every person to develop those concrete ideas while working alone. (Location 1262)
Work alone together We know that individuals working alone generate better solutions than groups brainstorming out loud. I 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. (Location 1265)
In our sprints, we work alone, but we follow specific steps to help everyone focus and make progress. When each person sketches alone, he or she will have time for deep thought. When the whole team works in parallel, they’ll generate competing ideas, without the groupthink of a group brainstorm. You might call this method “work alone together.” (Location 1271)
In his book Getting Things Done , Allen provides a smart strategy for daunting jobs. The secret, Allen writes, is not to think about the task as one monolithic effort (like “Pay taxes”), but instead to find the first small action needed to make progress (like “Collect tax paperwork”) and go from there. (Location 1283)
The (Location 1290)
The four- step sketch contains each of these important elements. You’ll start with twenty minutes to “boot up” by taking notes on the goals, opportunities, and inspiration you’ve collected around the room. Then you’ll have another twenty minutes to write down rough ideas. Next, it’s time to limber up and explore alternative ideas with a rapid sketching exercise called Crazy 8s. And finally, you’ll take thirty minutes or more to draw your solution sketch— a single well- formed concept with all the details worked out. (Location 1290)
Notes This first step is super- easy. You and your team will walk around the room, look at the whiteboards, 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. (Location 1294)
Ideas Now that everyone has a pile of notes, it’s time to switch into idea mode. 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. (Location 1305)
Crazy 8s is a fast- paced exercise. Each person takes his or her strongest ideas and rapidly sketches eight variations in eight minutes. Crazy 8s forces you to push past your first reasonable solutions and make them better, or at least consider alternatives. And before you get the wrong idea, the “crazy” in Crazy 8s refers to the pace, not the nature of the ideas. Forget about the traditional brainstorm advice to be goofy. We want you to focus on good ideas— the ones you believe will work and help you hit your goals— and use Crazy 8s to tweak and expand on those good ideas. (Location 1315)
Each person begins Crazy 8s with a single sheet of letter- size paper. Fold the paper in half three times, so you have eight panels. Set a timer to sixty seconds. Hit “start” and begin sketching— you have sixty seconds per section, for a total of eight minutes to create eight miniature sketches. Go fast and be messy: As with the notes and ideas, Crazy 8s will not be shared with the team. (Location 1320)
The exercise works best when you sketch several variations of the same idea. Take a favorite piece from your ideas sheet and ask yourself, “What would be another good way to do this?” Keep going until you can’t think of any more variations, then look back at your ideas sheet, choose a new idea, and start riffing on it instead. (Location 1323)
Crazy 8s is also a great writing exercise. If your idea contains words or marketing headlines or any other bits of text, you can use Crazy 8s to improve your phrasing. As you’ll see in the next step, writing is often the most important component of the solution sketch. (Location 1326)
The solution sketch is each person’s best idea, put down on paper in detail. Each one is an opinionated hypothesis for how to solve the challenge at hand. 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. (Location 1336)
Each sketch will be a three- panel storyboard drawn on sticky notes, showing what your customers see as they interact with your product or service. We like this storyboard format because products and services are more like movies than snapshots. Customers don’t just appear in one freeze frame and then disappear in the next. Instead, they move through your solution like actors in a scene. Your solution has to move right along with them. (Location 1339)
Make it self- explanatory On Wednesday morning, you’ll post your sketch on the wall for everyone to see. It needs to explain itself. 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. 2. 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 ideas. 3. 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. Be as neat as you can, but don’t worry if you’re not much of an artist. However … 4. Words matter We’ve used sprints with startups in all kinds of industries. One surprising constant: the importance of writing. Strong writing is especially necessary for software and marketing, where words often make up most of the screen. But choosing the right words is critical in every medium. So pay extra close attention to the writing in your sketch. Don’t use “lorem ipsum” or draw those squiggly lines that mean “text will go here.” That text will go a long way to explain your idea— so make it good and make it real! 5. Give it a catchy title Since your name won’t be on your sketch, give it a title. Later, these titles will help you keep track of the different solutions as you’re reviewing and choosing. They’re also a way to draw attention to the big idea in your solution sketch. (Byard Duncan titled his “The Mind Reader,” partly for fun and partly to highlight the idea of making the perfect coffee match.) (Location 1346)
Each person is responsible for creating one solution sketch. If a few folks get inspired and want to sketch more than one, that’s okay, but don’t overdo it. Each additional sketch means more work reviewing and narrowing down on Wednesday. Not only that, but we’ve noticed that the first batch tend to be the strongest and there are diminishing returns (Location 1369)
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. It takes all week— but only an hour or two a day— to screen, select, and recruit the best matches. Ideally, someone besides the Facilitator should take responsibility for recruiting, since the Facilitator will be busy enough as it is. (Location 1376)
Most of the time, to recruit people who exactly match our target customer, we use Craigslist. We know it sounds crazy, but it works. It’s how we found perfect participants for our tests with Savioke and Blue Bottle Coffee— and dozens of other companies. 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. First, you’ll write your generic ad. You want to be sure you don’t reveal what you’re testing or the kind of customer you’re seeking. We offer a small stipend or token of appreciation— usually a 100giftcard—topiquetheinterestofpotentialcustomers.Postinthe“etceterajobs”withsomethinglikethis: 100 customer research interviews on August 2 (San Francisco) (Location 1382)
Write a screener survey The screener survey is a simple questionnaire for interested people to fill out. You’ll need to ask the right questions to find the right people. Start by writing down characteristics of the customers you want to test with, then translate those characteristics into something you can discover with your survey. Do the same thing for characteristics you want to exclude (for example, people with too much expertise in your industry). (Location 1393)
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. (Location 1437)
Someone comes up with a solution, the group critiques it, someone tries to explain the details, and then someone else has a new idea: These discussions are frustrating, because humans have limited short- term memory and limited energy for decision- making. When we jump from option to option, it’s difficult to hold important details in our heads. On the other hand, when we debate one idea for too long, we get worn out— like a judge at a baking contest who fills up on apple pie before tasting anything else. (Location 1447)
Wednesday to do one thing at a time— and do it well. We’ll evaluate solutions all at once, critique all at once, and then make a decision all at once. (Location 1453)
Your goal for Wednesday morning is to decide which solutions to prototype. Our motto for these decisions is “unnatural but efficient.” Instead of meandering, your team’s conversations will follow a script. (Location 1455)
We ended up with a five- step process— and coincidentally, every step involves something sticky: 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. (Location 1502)
It’s not hard for creators to make great arguments for their mediocre ideas, or give great explanations for their indecipherable ideas. But in the real world, the creators won’t be there to give sales pitches and clues. In the real world, the ideas will have to stand on their own. If they’re confusing to the experts in a sprint, chances are good they’ll be confusing to customers. (Location 1523)
The heat map is both a useful way to spot standout ideas and a great way to get your brain warmed up for a decision. (Location 1541)
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 (when in doubt, use a checklist from the back of the book). But it won’t take long to get the hang of it. Once you do, your team will have a powerful tool for analyzing ideas, and you may find yourselves using it in other meetings. (Location 1548)
Here’s how the speed critique works: 1. Gather around a 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. (Location 1556)
That’s right— the proud inventor of the solution in the spotlight doesn’t get to speak up until the end of the critique. This unusual practice saves time, removes redundancy, and allows for the most honest discussion. (If the inventor pitched his or her idea, the rest of the team would have a harder time being critical or negative.) (Location 1567)
Remember that all you’re trying to accomplish in the speed critique is to create a record of promising ideas. You don’t need to debate whether something should be included in the prototype; that will come later. You shouldn’t try to come up with new ideas on the spot. Just write down what stands out about each solution. (Location 1573)
Straw poll In case you’re not a politics nerd, a straw poll is a nonbinding vote used to gauge a group’s opinion (like holding up a piece of straw to see which way the wind is blowing). In your sprint, the straw poll serves the same purpose. It’s a quick way for the whole team to express their opinions. These votes aren’t binding. Instead, 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— we like pink). 2. Remind everyone of the long- term goal and sprint questions . 3. Remind everyone to err on the side of 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). (Location 1581)
Sometimes when people work together in groups, they start to worry about consensus and try to make decisions that everybody will approve— mostly out of good nature and a desire for group cohesion, and perhaps in part because democracy feels good. Well, democracy is a fine system for governing nations, but it has no place in your sprint. (Location 1602)
Deciders can choose ideas that were popular in the straw poll. Or they can choose to ignore the straw poll. They can spread out their votes, or put them all in one place. Basically, the Deciders can do whatever the heck they want. All the same, it’s a good idea to remind the Decider of the long- term goal and the sprint questions (which should still be on one of your whiteboards!). (Location 1624)
The sketches with supervotes on them (even just one!) are the winners. You’ll plan your prototype around those ideas and put them to the test on Friday. We like to rearrange the sketches on the wall, so that the supervote winners are all together, like this: (Location 1629)
The sketches that didn’t get any supervotes aren’t winners, but they aren’t losers either. They’re “maybe- laters.” You might incorporate them when you plan your prototype on Wednesday afternoon, or perhaps you’ll use them in your next sprint. (Location 1632)
After your team has organized the winning solutions, everyone will probably feel relieved— after all, the biggest decision of the sprint has been made. Everyone will have had a chance to be heard, and everyone will understand how the decision was reached. On top of that relief, it’s exciting to identify and see the building blocks of your prototype. (Location 1638)
On Wednesday morning, your team will make a Sticky Decision to narrow down to the most promising sketches. (Location 1661)
When you have two good, conflicting ideas, you don’t have to choose between them at all. Instead, you can prototype both, and in Friday’s test, you’ll be able to see how each one fares with your customers. Your prototypes will battle head- to- head, like professional wrestlers whacking each other with folding chairs. We call this kind of test a Rumble. A Rumble allows your team to explore multiple options at once. (Location 1664)
Of course, it doesn’t always make sense to do a Rumble. Sometimes, there’s just one winning sketch. Sometimes, there are many winners, but they all fit together. Savioke’s winning solutions for their robot personality— sound effects, survey, and happy dance— could all coexist in one prototype. Which was lucky, because we only had one robot. If you think you can combine your winning sketches into one product, don’t bother with a Rumble. Instead, put them together into your best shot at solving the problem. This all- in- one approach has advantages, too. Your prototype will be longer and more detailed. (Location 1670)
If you have more than one winning solution, involve the whole team in a short discussion about whether to do a Rumble or combine the winners into a single prototype. Typically, this decision about format is easy. If it’s not, you can always ask the Decider to make the call. (Location 1675)
Throughout the sprint, you’ll have times when you need to gather information or ideas from the group and then make a decision. The Note- and- Vote is a shortcut. It only takes about ten minutes, and it works great for everything from fake brand names to deciding where to get lunch. 1. Give each team member a piece of paper and a pen . 2. Everyone takes three minutes and quietly writes down ideas . 3. Everyone takes two minutes to self- edit his or her list down to the best two or three ideas. 4. Write each person’s top ideas on the whiteboard . In a sprint with seven people, you’ll have roughly fifteen to twenty ideas in all. 5. Everyone takes two minutes and quietly chooses his or her favorite idea from the whiteboard. 6. Going around the room, each person calls out his or her favorite . For each “vote,” draw a dot next to the chosen idea on the whiteboard. 7. The Decider makes the final decision . As always, she can choose to follow the votes or not. (Location 1690)
Storyboard By Wednesday afternoon, you’ll be able to feel Friday’s test with customers looming ahead. Because of the short timeline, it’s tempting to jump into prototyping as soon as you’ve selected your winning ideas. But if you start prototyping without a plan, you’ll get bogged down by small, unanswered questions. Pieces won’t fit together, and your prototype could fall apart. On Wednesday afternoon, you’ll answer those small questions and make a plan. Specifically, you’ll take the winning sketches and string them together into a storyboard. This will be similar to the three- panel storyboards you sketched on Tuesday, but it will be longer: about ten to fifteen panels, all tightly connected into one cohesive story. (Location 1707)
Sprints have a shorter timeline and smaller scale than a Pixar production. But storyboarding is still worthwhile. You’ll use your storyboard to imagine your finished prototype, so you can spot problems and points of confusion before the prototype is built. By taking care of those decisions up front, you’ll be free to focus on Thursday. (Location 1716)
First, you need a big grid with around fifteen frames. Draw a bunch of boxes on an empty whiteboard , each about the size of two sheets of paper. If you have a hard time drawing long straight lines (and who doesn’t), use masking tape instead of a marker. You’ll start drawing your storyboard in the top left box of the grid. This frame will be the first moment that customers experience on Friday. So … what should it be? What’s the best opening scene for your prototype? If you get it right, the opening scene will boost the quality of your test. The right context can help customers forget they’re trying a prototype and react to your product in a natural way— just as if they had come across it on their own. If you’re prototyping an app, start in the App Store. If you’re prototyping a new cereal box, start on a grocery shelf. And if you’re prototyping business communication software? (Location 1731)
Choose an opening scene How do customers find out your company exists? Where are they and what are they doing just before they use your product? Our favorite opening scenes are simple:• Web search with your website nestled among the results• Magazine with an advertisement for your service• Store shelf with your product sitting beside its competitors• App Store with your app in it• News article that mentions your service, and possibly some competitors• Facebook or Twitter feed with your product shared among the other posts (Location 1749)
It’s almost always a good idea to present your solution alongside the competition . As a matter of fact, you can ask customers to test out your competitors’ products on Friday right alongside your own prototype. (Location 1759)
Fill out the storyboard Once you’ve selected an opening scene, the storyboard “artist” should draw it in the first frame (the “artist” will be standing at the whiteboard while everyone else gathers around). From there, you’ll build out your story, one frame at a time, just like a comic book. As you go, you’ll discuss each step as a team. (Location 1765)
If you decide the gap does need to be filled, try to use something from your “maybe- later” sketches, or from your existing product. Avoid inventing a new solution on the spot. Coming up with ideas on Wednesday afternoon isn’t a good use of time or effort. You will have to do some drawing, of course: filling in gaps when necessary and expanding on the winning sketches so that your prototype will be a believable story. Remember that the drawing doesn’t have to be fancy. If the scene happens on screen, draw buttons and words and a little arrow clicking. If the scene happens in real life, draw stick figures and speech bubbles. (Location 1772)
Work with what you have. Resist inventing new ideas and just work with the good ideas you already came up with. Don’t write together. Your storyboard should include rough headlines and important phrases, but don’t try to perfect your writing as a group. Group copywriting is a recipe for bland, meandering junk, not to mention lots of wasted time. Instead, use the writing from your solution sketches, or just leave it until Thursday. Include just enough detail. Put enough detail in your storyboard so that nobody has to ask questions like “What happens next?” or “What goes here?” when they are prototyping on Thursday. But don’t get too specific. You don’t need to perfect every frame or figure out every nuance. It’s okay to say: “Whoever builds this tomorrow can decide that detail.” And then move on. The Decider decides. Storyboarding is difficult because you already spent a lot of your limited decision- making energy in the morning. (Location 1778)
When in doubt, take risks. Sometimes you can’t fit everything in. Remember that the sprint is great for testing risky solutions that might have a huge payoff. So you’ll have to reverse the way you would normally prioritize. If a small fix is so good and low- risk that you’re already planning to build it next week, then seeing it in a prototype won’t teach you much. Skip those easy wins in favor of big, bold bets. (Location 1791)
Keep the story fifteen minutes or less. Make sure the whole prototype can be tested in about fifteen minutes. That might seem short, especially since your customer interviews will be sixty minutes long. But you’ll have to allow time for your customers to think aloud and answer your questions— not to mention starting up the interview at the beginning and winding it down at the end. Fifteen minutes will take longer than fifteen minutes. And there’s another, practical reason for this limit. Sticking to fifteen minutes will ensure that you focus on the most important solutions— and don’t bite off more than you can prototype. (A rule of thumb: Each storyboard frame equals about one minute in your test.) (Location 1799)
Don’t Drain the Battery Decisions take willpower, and you only have so much to spend each day. You can think of willpower like a battery that starts the morning charged but loses a sip with every decision (a phenomenon called “decision fatigue”). As Facilitator, you’ve got to make sure that charge lasts till 5 p.m. (Location 1808)
Wednesday is one decision after another, and it’s all too easy to drain the battery. By following the Sticky Decision process and steering the team from inventing new ideas, you should be able to make it to 5 p.m. without running out of juice. (Location 1811)
Smaller details— such as design or wording— can be pushed off until Thursday: “Let’s leave it up to whoever makes this part of the prototype tomorrow.” If anyone, even the Decider him- or herself, starts to invent solutions on the spot, ask that person to wait until after the sprint to explore new ideas: (Location 1817)
On Wednesday, you and your team created a storyboard. On Thursday, you’ll adopt a “fake it” philosophy to turn that storyboard into a realistic prototype. In the next chapters, we’ll explain the mindset, strategy, and tools that make it possible to build that prototype in just seven hours. (Location 1828)
Thursday is about illusion. You’ve got an idea for a great solution. Instead of taking weeks, months, or, heck, even years building that solution, you’re going to fake it. In one day, you’ll make a prototype that appears real, just like that Old West façade. And on Friday, your customers— like a movie audience— will forget their surroundings and just react. (Location 1843)
But perhaps the biggest problem is that the longer you spend working on something— whether it’s a prototype or a real product— the more attached you’ll become, and the less likely you’ll be to take negative test results to heart. After one day, you’re receptive to feedback. After three months, you’re committed. (Location 1857)
Building a façade may be uncomfortable for you and your team. To prototype your solution, you’ll need a temporary change of philosophy: from perfect to just enough , from long- term quality to temporary simulation . We call this philosophy the “prototype mindset,” and it’s made up of four simple principles. (Location 1864)
You Can Prototype Anything This statement might sound corny, but here it is. You have to believe. If you go into Thursday with optimism and a conviction that there is some way to prototype and test your product, you will find a way. (Location 1867)
Prototypes Are Disposable Don’t prototype anything you aren’t willing to throw away. Remember: This solution might not work. So don’t give in to the temptation of spending a few days or weeks getting your prototype ready. You’ll have diminishing returns on that extra work, and all the while, you’ll be falling deeper in love with a solution that could turn out to be a loser. (Location 1871)
Build Just Enough to Learn, but Not More The prototype is meant to answer questions, so keep it focused. You don’t need a fully functional product— you just need a real- looking façade to which customers can react. (Location 1874)
The Prototype Must Appear Real To get trustworthy results in your test on Friday, you can’t ask your customers to use their imaginations. You’ve got to show them something realistic. If you do, their reactions will be genuine. (Location 1877)
When you test your prototype on Friday, you’ll want your customers to react naturally and honestly. Show them something flimsy— a “paper prototype” made up of drawings, or a simplified wireframe of your design— and the illusion will break. Once the illusion is broken, customers switch into feedback mode. They’ll try to be helpful and think up suggestions. In Friday’s test, customer reactions are solid gold, but their feedback is worth pennies on the dollar. (Location 1879)
