Big design sprints take a week. Most small teams cannot spare that. This compressed version fits one day and still ends with something tested by real people.
The timetable
- 09:00 — Read the brief aloud. Agree the one question the day must answer.
- 09:30 — Lightning research: everyone shares three examples from competitors or other industries.
- 10:30 — Crazy eights, alone, in silence.
- 11:00 — Pin everything up. Dot-vote: three dots each.
- 11:45 — The decider picks one idea (or combines two).
- 12:30 — Lunch. Away from screens.
- 13:15 — Build the prototype. Paper or clickable, whichever is faster.
- 15:30 — Test with three to five people.
- 17:00 — Write down what you learned and the next step.
Rules that make it work
- One decider, agreed in the morning.
- Phones in a box until lunch.
- Draw, do not describe.
- Done is better than perfect: it is a prototype.