Event calendar
Five days. Every one counts.
Set your sprint dates and the full event arc fills in — from the travel window through to departure. Click any date field to edit.
Day −2
Travel
Optional early arrival. Recommended for participants flying in from far time zones.
Day −1
Dinner
Welcome dinner + informal intros. Facilitator pre-briefs the Decider. Team arrives relaxed and connected.
Day 1
Sprint
Understand · Map · Sketch · Align · Storyboard. Ends with prototype brief hand-off to design team.
Day 2
Test
Prototype review · Research sessions · Insights debrief · Verdict + next steps. Readout timeline set.
Day +1
Depart
Morning departures. Sprint readout delivered within 5 business days by facilitator.
Attendee registration
Who's in the room.
Track every participant — their role, attendance type, RSVP status, and logistics needs. Aim for 6–8 people max in the sprint room.
Recommended accommodations
Three options for the team.
Fill in hotel details for your city. The facilitator adds notes and links — attendees get one place to find everything they need before travel.
Event itinerary
Every hour accounted for.
The complete time-blocked schedule from team dinner through Day 2 close. Share this with attendees before the event — no surprises.
Day −1 — Arrival & Team Dinner
Evening before the sprint · Informal, no agenda pressure
Arrival window
Participants arrive, check in to hotels, and settle in. No sprint prep required — this time is unstructured. Facilitator available for logistics questions.
Welcome dinner
Full team gathers. Informal introductions, non-sprint conversation. The goal is connection — people do better sprint work with people they've shared a meal with.
Facilitator + Decider pre-brief (30 min)
Private session between the facilitator and the Decider only. Align on the sprint target, confirm the Decider's decision authority, and preview the Day 1 agenda. Critical for ensuring Day 1 runs without hesitation at key decision moments.
Day 1 — The Sprint
Understand · Map · Sketch · Align · Storyboard
Welcome & sprint norms (30 min)
Facilitator opens the sprint. Team introductions (even if people know each other — introduce through the lens of what you bring to this problem). Sprint rules established: phones away, one conversation, trust the process.
Phase 1 — Understand (2 hrs)
Expert talks from internal SMEs: what the data shows, what customers say, what prior work revealed. After each talk, individuals write "How Might We" notes on sticky notes — problems and opportunities framed as questions, not solutions.
Phase 2 — Map (1.5 hrs)
Team builds a shared journey map of the user experience — start to finish. The Decider selects the single most important moment to focus the sprint on. This is the target: the one step in the journey where the right solution will have the most impact.
Lunch (1 hr)
Working lunch — light conversation, no structured agenda. Team often continues thinking through the map informally. Catered in-room to maintain focus and energy.
Phase 3 — Sketch (2.5 hrs)
Lightning Demos: each person shares 2–3 examples of great solutions from analogous industries (not competitors). Then the 4-step sketch process: notes → ideas → crazy 8s → solution sketch. All sketching is individual — no group brainstorming.
Phase 4 — Align & Decide (45 min)
Sketches displayed anonymously. Silent gallery walk, dot voting by all participants. The Decider has final say — they can override the popular vote. One direction is chosen. Competing ideas may be combined into a single storyboard if the Decider agrees.
Storyboard (45 min)
Facilitator leads the team in creating a panel-by-panel storyboard of the winning concept — the blueprint for the overnight prototype build. Each panel is a screen or moment in the experience. Must be specific enough that the design team can build without needing clarification.
Prototype brief hand-off (15 min)
Sprint team hands storyboard and brief to the Prototype Owner (design team lead). Design team confirms scope for what can be built by 1 PM tomorrow. Sprint team leaves. Design team works overnight.
Day 2 — The Test
Prototype · Research · Insights · Verdict
Parallel sessions begin
Design team
Prototype build
Prototype Owner leads overnight build to completion. Sprint team not present. Focus on realistic fidelity — real enough for honest user reactions, not pixel-perfect.
Sprint team
Research preparation
Sprint team builds the discussion guide, defines success signals, and sets the observation protocol with the Researcher. Open design questions documented.
Prototype walk-through (1 hr)
Design team presents the prototype to the sprint team. First look for everyone except the Prototype Owner. Team reviews for critical gaps or errors — not for feedback or taste preferences. Minor adjustments made, major issues escalated immediately.
Lunch (1 hr)
Catered in-room. Design team finalizes the prototype. Sprint team reviews interview guide one final time. Researcher confirms participant schedule.
Prototype finalized — team sign-off (30 min)
Prototype Owner delivers the completed prototype. Sprint team does a final walk-through. Decider gives sign-off for testing. Prototype is frozen — no changes after this point.
Research sessions (1 hr)
Researcher moderates 5 user sessions with the prototype. Sprint team observes silently — one person per session takes notes using the observation template (positive reactions · negative reactions · questions). No interrupting the session. Note-taking is structured to make debrief faster.
Reconnect — insights debrief (1.5 hrs)
Facilitated synthesis session. Team clusters observations into patterns. Researcher identifies the top 3 insights. Hypothesis evaluated against evidence: Validated, Partially validated, or Invalidated. The Decider makes the go / no-go / pivot call.
Team retrospective (30 min)
What worked well in the process? What slowed us down? What would we do differently next sprint? Honest, structured. Facilitator takes notes for the readout.
Close + next steps (30 min)
Facilitator confirms owner assignments, sets readout delivery timeline (5 business days), and opens the floor for final questions. Sprint officially closed. Thank-you moment for the team.
Departure & follow-through
Day +1 and beyond.
A sprint only delivers value if the readout gets delivered and acted on. Set expectations before everyone leaves the room.
Morning departures
Day +1 logistics
Most participants depart the morning after Day 2. Recommend checkout by 11 AM. Ground transport options listed below — add rideshare, shuttle, or airport info for your city.
Readout delivery
Post-sprint communication
The Sprint Readout document (Module 4) is delivered within 5 business days. It includes The Pitch, The Concept, and The Recommendation with a go/no-go/pivot call and next steps.
Prototype handoff
Design artifacts
All sprint artifacts — storyboard, sketches, observation notes, and the prototype link — should be organized and shared within 48 hours so nothing is lost.
Team recognition
Closing the loop
A brief thank-you note to all participants — sent within 24 hours — acknowledges the effort and keeps the team engaged through the readout. Include a preview of what comes next.
Materials checklist
Pack this. Every time.
Check each item as you pack. Missing materials mid-sprint costs more time than packing takes. This list covers a full 2-day event for 8 participants.
Module 4 — Readout
Sprint done. Now write it up.
The Sprint Readout captures The Pitch, The Concept, and The Recommendation — everything a stakeholder needs to make a go/no-go decision, in one exec-ready document.