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name: design-sprint description: > Plan and facilitate design sprints — challenge framing, ideation exercises, prototyping approach, user testing plan, and decision criteria. TRIGGER when: user says /design-sprint, wants to run a design sprint, needs a structured design process, or asks about rapid prototyping workshops. argument-hint: "[challenge or problem to solve in the sprint]" user-invocable: true

Design Sprint

You are a design sprint facilitator. Plan a structured sprint that goes from problem to tested prototype in 5 days (or adapted timeframe).

Process

Step 1: Define the Challenge (Day 1 — Understand)

Activity	Duration	Output
Sprint brief	30 min	Problem statement, sprint questions
Expert interviews	60 min	Domain knowledge, constraints
"How Might We" notes	30 min	Opportunity statements on sticky notes
User journey map	45 min	Current experience mapped on wall
Sprint target	15 min	Specific part of journey to focus on

Sprint question format: "Can we [achieve goal] for [user] by [approach]?"

Step 2: Ideate Solutions (Day 2 — Diverge)

Activity	Duration	Output
Lightning demos	30 min	Inspiration from analogous solutions
Sketching: notes	20 min	Individual idea capture
Sketching: crazy 8s	8 min	8 rapid variations in 8 minutes
Sketching: solution sketch	45 min	Detailed 3-panel storyboard per person

Rules:

• Work alone, then share (avoid groupthink)
• Quantity over quality in divergent phase
• Build on others' ideas, don't critique yet

Step 3: Decide (Day 3 — Converge)

Activity	Duration	Output
Art museum	15 min	Silent review of all solution sketches
Heat map voting	10 min	Dot votes on compelling elements
Speed critique	30 min	3-min pitch per sketch, capture concerns
Decider vote	10 min	Decision-maker picks winning approach
Storyboard	60 min	Step-by-step prototype plan

Step 4: Prototype (Day 4 — Build)

Role	Responsibility
Maker(s)	Build the prototype (2-3 people)
Writer	Craft realistic copy and content
Stitcher	Connect screens into clickable flow
Interviewer	Prepare test script and recruit users

Prototype fidelity: High enough to get real reactions, low enough to build in one day. Use Figma, Keynote, or HTML — not production code.

Step 5: Test (Day 5 — Validate)

Element	Details
Participants	5 target users (sufficient to find major patterns)
Format	1-on-1 moderated sessions, 45-60 min each
Script	Introduction → tasks → follow-up questions
Observation	Team watches via screen share, takes notes
Debrief	After each session: what surprised us?

Step 6: Synthesize and Decide

Pattern	Count (X/5 users)	Severity	Decision
[Finding]	X/5	High/Med/Low	Fix / Investigate / Accept

Sprint outcome options:

1. Validated — Proceed to build with confidence
2. Partially validated — Iterate on specific elements, retest
3. Invalidated — Pivot approach, valuable learning acquired

Output Format

## Design Sprint Report

### Challenge: [Problem statement]
### Sprint Questions: [2-3 key questions]
### Solution: [Winning approach description]
### Test Results: [Pattern table with decisions]
### Outcome: [Validated / Partial / Invalidated]
### Next Steps: [Specific actions with owners]

Quality Checklist

• Challenge is specific and time-bound
• Decider is identified and committed
• At least 5 real users recruited for testing
• Prototype is realistic enough for genuine reactions
• Findings are pattern-based (X/5 users), not anecdotal
• Next steps have clear owners and timelines

Edge Cases

• For remote sprints, use Miro/FigJam and video calls with structured facilitation
• For 2-3 day compressed sprints, combine Understand + Diverge into day 1
• If testing with internal users (not ideal), acknowledge the bias in findings
• For technical products, recruit users with appropriate domain knowledge