The Comparable Problem method is an excellent warm-up for the Sketch phase of the Design Sprint. Sometimes the best ideas already exist—they simply need to be repurposed, presented in a new context, or combined with other ideas. Ask team members to research other related products and to review similar problems and their solutions. This can be assigned as homework at the end of the Understand phase or completed during the Sprint.

An example exercise: If your product is Mail, look at how other products have described or categorized their Mail interfaces.

Boot Up Note Taking is a Sketching method that prepares the team for Crazy 8’s or other sketch generating methodology. Boot Up Note Taking is the process of reviewing what’s been generated, collecting thoughts, and preparing to sketch ideas based on the knowledge and opportunities shared in the Understand phase:

By giving the team a moment to regroup, they won’t feel rushed and will be able to translate their ideas into visual form in the next steps.

Crazy 4’s is a core Design Sprint method. It is a fast sketching exercise that challenges people to sketch four distinct ideas in twenty minutes. The goal is to push beyond your first idea, frequently the least innovative, and to generate a wide variety of solutions to your challenge.

Some team members without a design background may find this method intimidating at first, so it is helpful to reassure everyone that these are rough sketches. They do not need to be perfect or beautiful—sketches just need to communicate the idea. If necessary, you could even hold a quick “how to sketch” tutorial session before starting this exercise.

It’s also important to remember that the ideas do not have to be great. This exercise is about quieting the inner critic and giving our creative impulses space to flourish. Weird, impossible, and impractical ideas often give way to truly inspired ones. It’s called Crazy 4’s for a reason.

After everyone has finished the Crazy 4’s exercise, it’s time for each team member to share the ideas they have generated and discuss with the group. Paste the four excalidraw frames into the Project's Document, describe each of them and answer any questions other teammates may have.

After the entire team has published their sketches, hold a round of voting. You’re not choosing the idea you’re moving forward with yet. Instead, you’re weeding out any sketches that aren’t feasible and/or won’t help the user.

The Solution Sketch is a Design Sprint method used to expand upon one solution idea. In this exercise, the participants spend more time articulating the best ideas from the team, regardless of the most popular ideas identified from the Crazy 8’s sketches. It is okay to sketch a new idea or a combination of ideas,.

The goal is to create a few fully fleshed out idea for the solution that is thought to be the best. Each Solution Sketch should include three frames or states of the concept to help illustrate how it works, as well as a clear title to help people remember it.