# Design Sprint Brief: [Initiative or Challenge name]

<!-- Two-page pre-sprint artifact. The team and Decider sign off on this as the contract for the next five days and the authorization for customer-recruiting spend. -->

## Challenge Statement and Why-Now

[One paragraph. Four sentences max. What is the team testing this week? Why does the answer matter? What would invalidation tell the team? Why this week vs. later (urgency, dependency on a downstream decision, market timing)?]

## Sprint Questions

[2-4 specific questions the Friday testing answers. If a Foundation Sprint preceded this sprint, the highest-risk assumption from the FS scorecard becomes Question 1.]

1. [Question 1; canonical lead question; one sentence; answerable from 5 Friday interviews]
2. [Question 2]
3. [Question 3]
4. [Question 4]

## Decider Attendance Windows

| Window | Day(s) | Required for |
|---|---|---|
| Mon AM | [date] 09:00-12:30 | Map and Target; long-term goal, sprint questions, target moment |
| Wed AM | [date] 09:00-12:30 | Heat map, critique, supervote |
| Fri PM | [date] 14:00-18:00 | Decider observes interview slots 4-5 from breakout room; Decider review of Friday scorecard begins after last interview wraps 16:30; build/iterate/pivot/stop call by 17:30 |
| (Ideal) Full week | [date range] | All 5 days |

**[Decider name]'s confirmed availability:** [state which windows are committed and any gaps]

## Team Roster

| Attendee | Role | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Name] | Decider | required | optional | required AM | optional | required PM |
| [Name] | Facilitator | required | required | required | required | required |
| [Name] | Design lead | required | required (sketch) | required | required (prototype build) | required (observation) |
| [Name] | Engineering lead | required | required | required | required (prototype build) | required (observation) |
| [Name] | PM or Researcher | required | required | required | optional | required (interview moderation) |
| [Name] | Customer expert / domain SME | required | optional | optional | optional | optional |

[Cameo experts, if any, listed separately with the specific session they attend.]

## Customer Recruiting Plan

| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Target customer profile | [Specific enough to recruit against; cross-checked against readiness profile] |
| Source | [Primary and secondary channels] |
| Count needed | 5 (canonical; 6 confirmed for 1-buffer) |
| Incentive | [Honorarium amount; budget authorized] |
| Recruiter owner | [Name; responsible for scheduling Friday slots] |
| Recruiting deadline | [Date; canonically 7-10 days before Friday testing; must be past by brief sign-off] |
| Friday schedule | [Time blocks; canonical 6 slots Fri 09:00-15:00 with 1 buffer at 17:00] |
| Recording and consent | [Consent form template; recording policy; participant data retention] |

## Prototype Medium Decision

**Medium:** [Clickable (Figma), slideware (Keynote), service role-play, paper, physical mock, other]

**Rationale:** [One paragraph: why this medium fits the challenge, who on the team has proven capability in it, how it constrains the sketch and storyboard work upstream, and what the medium does NOT need to do (the prototype is not the product).]

**Build owners:** [2 people from team; canonically Design + Engineering or Design + PM]

**Build day:** Thursday [date], target completion 17:00 [timezone] for Friday dry-run.

## Interview Format

**Format:** [Live in-person / Remote moderated / Remote unmoderated / Hybrid]

**Moderator:** [Name; canonically the Researcher or PM]

**Observer setup:** [Observation-room arrangement; Zoom waiting-room or breakout-room observers; sticky-note synthesis tool]

**Script structure:** Five-Act Interview (Welcome / Context / Intro / Tasks / Debrief). Tasks Act customized to the prototype; other Acts canonical.

**Recording and consent:** [Recording yes/no; consent form sent at recruiting time; data retention policy; redaction posture]

## Sprint Logistics

| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Sprint week | [Mon date] through [Fri date] |
| Hours | [start]:[end] each day |
| Location | [In-person address / Remote video / Hybrid with details] |
| Format | [Workshop with shared whiteboard / Pure remote / etc.] |
| Tools | [Whiteboard tool, video, decision log location, prototype tool, recording tool] |
| Daily rhythm | [Standup time, lunch, day-end review] |
| Non-sprint coverage | [On-call, Slack rerouting, calendar gating] |

## Success Criteria

The sprint is **successful** if:

1. [Friday produces a clear validation or invalidation of Sprint Question 1, with evidence from 5 customer interviews.]
2. [Decider makes an explicit build / iterate / pivot / stop call by 17:30 Friday.]
3. [Sprint Questions 2-4 have at least directional evidence from Friday.]
4. [The team's confidence in the underlying hypothesis or direction has measurably changed (up or down) from Monday morning.]

The sprint is **unsuccessful** if [the explicit failure conditions: Friday interviews do not complete due to recruiting failure, prototype is not testable on Friday, Decider call slips past Monday next-week, or scope drift forces the sprint to extend].

## Decider Checkpoint

**Decider sign-off required before Monday begins (and before customer recruiting closes).**

- [ ] Decider confirms challenge and sprint questions; questions are answerable from 5 Friday interviews.
- [ ] Decider confirms team roster and attendance windows.
- [ ] Decider authorizes customer recruiting plan, including honorarium budget.
- [ ] Decider confirms prototype medium and acknowledges the team will not over-invest in the prototype as if it were the product.
- [ ] Decider confirms interview format, recording, and consent posture.
- [ ] Decider confirms success criteria and acknowledges the sprint will produce a single build/iterate/pivot/stop call by 17:30 Friday.
- [ ] Decider acknowledges that recruiting cancellation or insufficient prototype scope must trigger a postpone decision rather than a slipped sprint.

**Signed:** [Decider name, role], [ISO date and local time]
