Whether you are a startup or a large organisation, you face numerous problems to deliver value. Jake Knapp is renowned for his work as an author of the book ‘Sprint’ that turned out to be a guide for a unique five-day process for solving tough problems, proven at more than a hundred companies. It is our privilege to share his thoughts on design sprints and its benefits.
Q1. You are known as the author of the New York Times bestseller Sprint and your contribution to products like Gmail, Hangouts and Microsoft Encarta. What is an alternate introduction to Jake Knapp?
Jake: A very tall person with glasses.
Q2. According to you when we call a situation, a problem?
Jake: When I say “problem” I’m usually talking about a challenge that a team is facing. So it’s a “problem” more in the sense of something to solve rather than, you know, something bad.
Q3. It generally happens that in order to achieve the short term goals, teams fail to live up to long-term vision of the organisation. How can this challenge be addressed?
Jake: In a design sprint, I always encourage teams to be very optimistic and idealistic as they set their long term goal, to keep it in mind throughout, and ultimately to measure success based on that long term goal. Tactics like this are important to make sure we don’t get too focused on the near term.
Q4. What is a Prototype Mindset? What are the key benefits of adapting to it for Startups?
Jake: The Prototype Mindset means you’re going to build something for the purpose of learning—not for the purpose of making it perfect, and you’re going to test it, and you’re going to be okay with it failing, and you’re going to be okay with throwing it away and starting over. Startups and really all kinds of companies and teams benefit from this approach because it gives you more shots at finding the right solution, and takes away that stress of getting it right.
Q5. Please share your three mantras to work faster, smarter and together.
Jake: Design your time, work alone together, prototype and repeat.
Q6. How design sprints can help the teams take a pause and ensure that everyone is going in the right direction?
Jake: The design sprint is sort of a theme park where we step away from regular work for a week. I find the highly-structured format allows teams to reset their thinking and be able to see their projects with fresh eyes—and sometimes that means confirming that they’re on the right track, and sometimes it means realizing they need to change course.
Q7. What makes a team, a right team?
Jake: Diversity of skills and expertise, and the decision-maker in the room.
Jake Knapp is the author of New York Times bestseller “Sprint” and the forthcoming book “Make Time”. Jake spent 10 years at Google and Google Ventures, where he created the Design Sprint process. He has since run it over 150 times with companies like Nest, Slack, 23andMe, Uber, and Flatiron Health. Previously, Jake helped build products like Gmail, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft Encarta. He is currently among the world’s tallest aspiring novelists.