Design Sprint

When you need to validate a risky product idea before committing months of engineering time, this implements Jake Knapp's five-day Design Sprint framework from Google Ventures. You go from problem definition on Monday to testing a realistic prototype with five customers by Friday. It works best when stakes are high, your team is stuck debating, or you're starting something new with significant behavioral risk. The structure is opinionated: individual sketching instead of group brainstorming, one Decider with authority, and fake-it prototypes instead of real builds. Skip it if you already have strong customer signal or the solution is obvious and low-risk.