---
title: Workshop and Method Comparison
description: "When to choose among PM workshop methodologies and adjacent pm-skills: Foundation Sprint, Design Sprint, agile sprint planning, Lean Canvas, JTBD, Customer Discovery, Feature Kickoff, Experiment Design. Comparison matrix + decision-tree."
---

## Purpose

PM teams have many overlapping methodologies for similar-looking questions ("what should we build?", "is this idea worth pursuing?", "how do we test this?"). This page is the cross-method comparison reference - it does not advocate any single method but helps you pick the right one for the question you're actually facing.

For details on any single method, follow the linked concept doc or skill body. For terminology specific to Foundation Sprint or Design Sprint, see the [Sprint Methodology Glossary](sprint-methodology-glossary.md). For the disambiguation between workshop sprints and agile sprints, see [Workshop Sprints vs Agile Sprints](../concepts/workshop-sprints-vs-agile-sprints.md).

## Comparison matrix

| Method | Purpose | Duration | Team size | Output | Customer access required? | Recurring or one-time? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **[Foundation Sprint](../concepts/foundation-sprint.md)** | Choose a testable strategic direction at the start of a big initiative | 2 days (one-time) | 3-5 inc. Decider | Founding Hypothesis sentence + assumption scorecard + recommended next test | No (uses existing customer knowledge) | One-time |
| **[Design Sprint](../concepts/design-sprint.md)** | Validate a risky idea with a realistic prototype and 5 target customers | 5 days (one-time) | 4-7 inc. Decider | Friday scorecard + Decider's build/iterate/pivot/stop call + named next artifact | Yes (5 target-profile customers Friday) | One-time per challenge |
| **[Agile / Scrum sprint planning](../../_workflows/sprint-planning.md)** | Commit a sprint goal + select backlog items for the next iteration | 2-4 hours (recurring) | Whole Scrum team | Sprint goal + committed backlog | No | Recurring (every 1-4 weeks) |
| **[`foundation-lean-canvas`](../../skills/foundation-lean-canvas/SKILL.md)** | Capture a one-page business model spanning 9 interlocking blocks | 60-90 min | 1-3 | Lean Canvas (one page; 9 blocks) | No | One-time per pivot or initiative |
| **[`define-jtbd-canvas`](../../skills/define-jtbd-canvas/SKILL.md)** | Frame what job customers hire your product to do | 45-90 min | 1-3 | JTBD canvas | Helpful but not required | One-time per discovery cycle |
| **[`workflow-customer-discovery`](../../_workflows/customer-discovery.md)** | Transform raw research into a validated problem statement | 2-4 hours across multiple skills | 1-3 | Problem statement + opportunity tree + persona | Yes (research synthesis) | One-time per discovery cycle |
| **[`workflow-feature-kickoff`](../../_workflows/feature-kickoff.md)** | Move from validated problem to ready-to-build feature spec | 2-4 hours across multiple skills | 1-3 | PRD + user stories + acceptance criteria | No | Recurring per feature |
| **[`measure-experiment-design`](../../skills/measure-experiment-design/SKILL.md)** | Design a smaller-than-Design-Sprint experiment (fake-door, landing-page, A/B test) | 60-90 min | 1-3 | Experiment spec | Varies by experiment type | One-time per experiment |

## Decision tree: which method fits my situation?

```mermaid
flowchart TD
    START[I have a product question to answer]
    START --> Q1{Is this about<br/>strategic direction<br/>or specific feature?}

    Q1 -->|Strategic direction| Q2{Have I already<br/>chosen a direction?}
    Q1 -->|Specific feature or interaction| Q3{Do I have a<br/>specific risky<br/>assumption to test?}
    Q1 -->|Already validated; ready to build| FK[workflow-feature-kickoff]
    Q1 -->|Recurring delivery cycle| SP[agile sprint planning]

    Q2 -->|No, multiple paths| FS[Foundation Sprint<br/>2 days]
    Q2 -->|Yes, but need to validate| Q3
    Q2 -->|Yes and validated| FK

    Q3 -->|Yes; need customer evidence| Q4{Can I get 5 target<br/>customers for<br/>Friday testing?}
    Q3 -->|Yes; can test with smaller experiment| EXP[measure-experiment-design]
    Q3 -->|No; still in discovery| CD[workflow-customer-discovery]

    Q4 -->|Yes| DS[Design Sprint<br/>5 days]
    Q4 -->|No| EXP

    FS --> Q5{Was Founding Hypothesis testable<br/>with a prototype + 5 customers?}
    Q5 -->|Yes| DS
    Q5 -->|No; needs research| CD
    Q5 -->|No; needs smaller test| EXP

    style FS fill:#e1f5ff
    style DS fill:#e1ffe1
    style SP fill:#fff4e1
```

## When you'd combine methods

These aren't either/or. A common end-to-end pattern in product organizations:

1. **Foundation Sprint** at the start of a new bet to choose direction
2. **Design Sprint** within 1-2 weeks of Foundation Sprint to test the Founding Hypothesis
3. **Feature Kickoff workflow** to convert the Design Sprint Build call into PRD + stories
4. **Agile sprints** as the recurring delivery cadence for the build
5. **Experiment Design** for smaller-than-DS questions that arise during build
6. **Customer Discovery workflow** if any post-launch signal suggests the original problem framing was wrong

The methodologies operate at different cadences and altitudes; they compose rather than compete.

## When NOT to use a Foundation Sprint or Design Sprint

| Situation | Better alternative |
|---|---|
| Recurring 2-week delivery cycle | Agile / Scrum sprint planning |
| Single PM wants a strategic framing in an afternoon | Lean Canvas (1-3 person; 60-90 min) |
| Specific assumption testable with no customers | Experiment Design (fake-door, landing-page, A/B test) |
| Team is in pure discovery; no clear challenge yet | Customer Discovery workflow |
| Validated direction; ready to build | Feature Kickoff workflow |
| Small UX tweak with low stakes | None of the above; just ship it |
| Stakeholder alignment without strategic-direction question | Stakeholder Alignment workflow |
| Pure tech-feasibility question | Technical Discovery workflow (spike-summary + ADR) |

## Cross-references

- [Foundation Sprint concept doc](../concepts/foundation-sprint.md) - the FS methodology in depth
- [Design Sprint concept doc](../concepts/design-sprint.md) - the DS methodology in depth
- [Workshop Sprints vs Agile Sprints](../concepts/workshop-sprints-vs-agile-sprints.md) - the cross-methodology disambiguation
- [Sprint Methodology Glossary](sprint-methodology-glossary.md) - terminology reference

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*Part of [PM-Skills](https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills) - Open source Product Management skills for AI agents.*
