Data Vanguards.
Problem-Framing Field Guide
Your recommended method
Design Sprint
Go from a big question to a tested prototype in days.
Why this method
A time-boxed three-to-five-day process to map a challenge, sketch solutions, decide, prototype, and test with real supporters — fast. Best when the board is aligned on the problem but divided on the solution, or when you need hard evidence before a budget decision.
The sprint's power is in the constraint: one question, four days, five real supporters to test with. You come out with tested evidence and a team that has built something together — which matters as much as the evidence itself. The sprint question is the most important thing you'll write before the sprint starts.
Your next move
Block a four-day sprint with a small cross-functional team — someone from commercial, someone from operations, someone who talks to fans every week: Day 1 map the challenge and pick a target, Day 2 sketch solutions, Day 3 build a realistic prototype, Day 4 test it with five supporters — then decide.
Your template — the sprint brief
Write this before you block the four days
Sprint question: By Day 4, we will be able to decide [specific decision].
Team: [name & role], [name & role], [name & role], [name & role]
Long-term goal: [what success looks like in 12 months]
Sprint target: [the specific user moment or touchpoint we're designing for]
Success criterion: [what we will be able to say or decide after Day 4 that we cannot say today]
If you can't fill in the sprint question in one sentence, it's too big. Break it down until you can. That constraint is the point.
Three quick-start steps
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1
Frame the sprint question. "By Day 4, we will be able to decide [X]." The question must be answerable in four days — if it can't be, it's too big. Break it down. The quality of the sprint question determines the quality of everything that follows.
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2
Assemble the team and block the days now. 4–5 people: someone from commercial, someone from operations, someone who talks to fans or members every week. Block four consecutive days — if you can't, the sprint isn't actually a priority. That's useful information too.
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3
Recruit five supporters to test with on Day 4. They don't need to know it's a sprint — just 45-minute structured conversations with people who represent your target user. Recruit them before the sprint starts, not during it.
Turn this into a build plan.
A Data Vanguards diagnostic helps you run this sprint properly — or decide if a lighter-weight exercise gets you to the same answer faster.
Book a diagnostic →