Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days

The complete playbook for running a Design Sprint: five days, one big problem, a realistic prototype, and real user feedback. Developed at Google and tested at over a hundred companies through Google Ventures.

Why Start Here

Sprint is Jake Knapp’s signature book and the one that made Design Sprints a standard practice in product teams worldwide. Co-written with John Zeratsky and Braden Kowitz, it lays out a day-by-day process: map the problem on Monday, sketch solutions on Tuesday, decide on Wednesday, prototype on Thursday, and test with real users on Friday.

What sets the book apart is its specificity. Knapp does not deal in vague principles. He tells you exactly how many people should be in the room, how to structure each exercise, and how to avoid the common traps that derail collaborative work. The stories from real sprints at Slack, Blue Bottle Coffee, Savioke, and other companies show the method in action across wildly different industries.

What to Expect

A fast, practical read organized around the five-day sprint structure. Each chapter corresponds to one day with step-by-step instructions. The tone is energetic and conversational. Ideal for product managers, designers, founders, and anyone who wants a proven process for moving from uncertainty to tested ideas in a week.