A design sprint is not a week of brainstorming. It is a tight timetable built to answer one question in five days: would this idea work? The answer comes from a user on Friday, not from the loudest voice in the room.

1. Monday — map. The problem is framed and the week's target is written in one sentence.
2. Tuesday — sketch. Everyone draws alone; there is no discussion.
3. Wednesday — decide. The sketches are chosen by silent vote and one scenario is left standing.
4. Thursday — prototype. A working surface is assembled; it need have nothing behind it.
5. Friday — test. Interviews with five users, watched by the team from the next room.

The prototype assembled on Thursday is not a product, and is not meant to be. Teams normally leave a sprint with one decision: carry on, change course, or stop.For the ones carrying on, the next step is the acceleration programmes.