Remote Sprint

Library

Field guides for better remote product work.

Browse structured guides, chapters, and articles for running focused design sprints and turning team discussion into durable specs.

1 guides 45 articles
Guide 1

Remote Design Sprint

A ground-up redesign of the Sprint methodology for distributed teams working asynchronously across time zones, mediated by AI through a chat platform.

Chapter 2

Setup

Before-the-sprint activities for challenge framing, team assembly, tooling, schedule, and kickoff.

01 Choose the Challenge Define the written Challenge Brief that gives the async sprint shared context. 02 Assemble the Team Define sprint roles, team size, Decider commitments, and team member expectations. 03 Platform Configuration Configure sprint channels, direct messages, and required collaboration platform features. 04 Timeline Planning Set sprint dates, sync windows, customer interview slots, and time zone expectations. 05 Customer Recruiting Recruit and schedule customers for remote interviews before Phase 5. 06 AI Kickoff Sequence Start the sprint with the AI kickoff message and Phase 1 opening expectations.

Chapter 3

Phase 1: Understand

Goal, questions, expert input, map, HMW notes, voting, and target selection.

01 Phase 1 Sequence The 48-hour activity sequence for the Understand phase. 02 Goal and Questions Collect blind long-term goals and sprint questions, then synthesize them for team refinement. 03 React and Expert Q&A Refine goals and questions while running structured expert Q&A threads. 04 Map and HMW Notes Draft the customer map and collect blind How Might We notes from the team. 05 Voting and Target Selection Vote on HMW notes and route the final target decision to the Decider. 06 Phase 1 Gate Verify Phase 1 outputs before opening Phase 2.

Chapter 5

Phase 3: Decide

Sketch reveal, heat map, critique, voting, supervote, rumble decisions, and storyboard.

01 Phase 3 Sequence The 48-hour activity sequence for the Decide phase. 02 The Big Reveal and Heat Map Reveal all sketches simultaneously and collect heat map reactions. 03 Critique Threads Run AI-led critique threads for every anonymous sketch. 04 Straw Poll Collect blind straw poll votes and reveal the rationale together. 05 Supervote Route the final Decider supervote and announce prototype winners. 06 Rumble or All-in-One Decide whether winners combine into one prototype or compete as separate rumbles. 07 Storyboard Build and approve the storyboard collaboratively from winning sketches. 08 Phase 3 Gate Verify winners, format, and storyboard before opening Phase 4.

Chapter 6

Phase 4: Prototype

Role assignment, prototype coordination, interview script, trial run, and customer confirmation.

01 Phase 4 Sequence The 72-hour activity sequence for the Prototype phase. 02 Role Assignment Assign makers, writer, stitcher, asset collector, and interviewer roles. 03 Prototype Coordination Coordinate prototype progress, blockers, handoffs, and prototype mindset. 04 Interview Script Draft the Five-Act interview script while the prototype is being built. 05 Trial Run Run a sync or recorded trial run before customers see the prototype. 06 Customer Confirmation Confirm all five customers and backups before Phase 5 opens. 07 Phase 4 Gate Verify prototype, interview script, customer status, and video setup before Phase 5.

Chapter 7

Phase 5: Test

Remote testing, observation notes, pattern synthesis, sprint question review, and next steps.

01 Async Testing Options Choose between staggered live viewing, recorded interviews, and a hybrid testing approach. 02 Phase 5 Sequence The 48-hour activity sequence for the Test phase. 03 Observation Grid Create structured interview threads and observation note formats. 04 Interview Execution Run remote interviews, post recordings, and handle no-shows. 05 Observation Note-Taking Guide team members to write independent, evidence-based observation notes. 06 Pattern Finding Collect blind pattern submissions and synthesize strong, moderate, and weak signals. 07 Sprint Question Review Map evidence back to sprint questions and the long-term goal. 08 Next Steps Decision Decide what to build, fix, kill, or investigate after testing. 09 Sprint Completion Close the sprint with findings, answers, decisions, and preserved artifacts.