What is a design sprint?

A design sprint is accurately described as a time-constrained, five-phase process aimed at mitigating risk when launching a product. This approach, popularized by Google Ventures, allows teams to rapidly prototype and test ideas within a structured framework. The five phases typically include understanding the problem, sketching possible solutions, deciding on the best approach, prototyping a solution, and testing that prototype with real users, all within a week.

By following this process, teams can quickly identify whether an idea is viable and worth pursuing further, significantly reducing the uncertainties and potential pitfalls associated with traditional product development cycles. The time constraint encourages focus and efficiency, pushing teams to make decisions and iterate based on feedback, ultimately leading to well-informed product directions.

In contrast, the other choices, while relevant to design practices, do not capture the essence of a design sprint. A lengthy process for product updates does not describe the rapid nature of a design sprint, and a brainstorming session for design concepts lacks the structure and focus on user testing that defines a design sprint. Similarly, a technique for user feedback collection is only a small part of the overall design sprint process, which encompasses much more than collecting feedback.