The Applied Science Blog

A classic Design Sprint runs Monday through Friday. Each day tackles a different step in solving a big problem—mixing design thinking, rapid prototyping, and user research into one focused week.

Day 1 – Understand & Define

Kick off by mapping the challenge. The team sets a long-term goal, defines key questions, and captures expert insights—either from inside the room or through interviews. By the afternoon, everyone aligns on a specific target to tackle. The goal? One sharp focus for the week.

Day 2 – Sketch Solutions

With clarity in place, the team gets creative. First comes inspiration—looking at similar solutions, products, or patterns. Then, everyone sketches detailed ideas independently (no groupthink here). This sparks a range of fresh approaches. You’ll also start recruiting users for testing later in the week.

Day 3 – Decide & Storyboard

Time to choose. The team critiques Monday and Tuesday’s ideas, votes on the strongest solutions, and commits to one. The afternoon is spent turning that idea into a storyboard—a step-by-step plan for the prototype. Think of it as your blueprint for what comes next.

Day 4 – Prototype

Now you build. The team creates a quick, scrappy prototype that looks and feels real—but only goes as deep as it needs to. It might be a clickable interface, a paper mockup, a role-played service, or a physical model. The key is realism, not perfection. Wrap the day with a dry run to prep for testing.

Day 5 – Test with Users

This is the moment of truth. One by one, real users interact with your prototype. The team watches and takes notes while a facilitator runs structured interviews. You’ll learn what clicks, what confuses, and what needs fixing. Whether the idea flies or flops, you leave the sprint with solid data.

The healthcare space is complex—but that makes design sprints even more valuable. Foundation Medicine used a sprint to prototype a genetic cancer diagnostics tool for oncologists, going from concept to testable interface in five days (GV).

At Flatiron Health, sprinting helped teams design clinician-facing dashboards and patient portals. Even large firms like Johnson & Johnson have used sprints to pressure-test concepts in regulated settings—looping in legal and compliance experts right from the start (Fujitsu).

Design sprints bring speed without sacrificing safety—letting healthcare teams explore new ideas without costly missteps.

Design sprints are even making waves in scientific R&D. Researchers in materials science have proposed sprints to prioritize end-user needs in early-stage tech, ensuring real-world relevance from day one (ECMetAC 2023).

In one standout case, a team of space scientists applied the sprint method to solve a space weather forecasting challenge. What would have taken months of planning was compressed into a single week of collaborative ideation, concept testing, and prioritization (EOS).

The result? Actionable ideas, strong direction, and buy-in from stakeholders—fast.

Tech was the birthplace of the Design Sprint—and for good reason. Slack used it to completely rethink their product onboarding and marketing, helping users get value faster. By testing messaging and interface tweaks in just days, they fine-tuned their user experience without months of iteration (GV).

Google Ventures has facilitated sprints for companies like Medium and Flatiron Health, helping them prototype core features, validate interfaces, and test new markets—often in a single week. What normally takes teams months to plan and build gets compressed into five highly productive days.

Even your morning coffee can benefit from a sprint. Blue Bottle Coffee ran a one-week sprint to redesign their website and launch an online store—transforming how people bought their beans online (GV).

Food companies now apply sprints to brainstorm new snacks, build rapid prototypes (yes, even edible ones), and conduct taste tests—all in one week. On Monday, it’s just an idea; by Friday, customers are giving feedback on packaging, flavor, or even portion size (LinkedIn).