Running a 2.5 Hour Feature Sprint with a Startup Mobile App

The Playbook

What, How, Why? (30 minutes)

• Draw concentric What, How, Why circles.
• Set timer for 10 minutes.
• Everyone writes one sticky per circle.
• One at a time, team members come up and present.
• The facilitator reads 1 circle’s stickies aloud a couple of times, then everyone votes.
• The facilitator marks votes, Decider makes the final decision.
• Repeat for each circle.
• Take the “win” and move to a summary space.

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10-Year Roadmap (30 minutes)

• Draw MVP, 2-year, 5-year, 10-year line
• Set timer for 10 minutes.
• Everyone writes one sticky per section.
• One at a time, team members come up and present.
• The facilitator reads 1 section’s stickies aloud a couple of times, then everyone votes.
• The facilitator marks votes, Decider makes the final decision.
• Repeat for each section.
• Take the “winner” and move to a summary space.

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App Review(s) (30 minutes)

• Write out the following fill-in-the-blank on the board: This app ____ed me _____, _____, and _____. Now I can _____________________.
• Set timer for 7 minutes.
• Each person fills out 5 sticky notes (one for each blank).
• Each person reads theirs twice.
• Go around in a circle.
• Each person reads theirs twice again.
• Set timer for 5 minutes.
• Each person uses however many stickies they need to write their ideal review (no formula, unless you want to).
• Each person sticks theirs on the board and reads theirs.
• Everyone votes.
• The facilitator marks votes, Decider makes the final decision.
• Repeat for each section.
• Take the “winner” and move to a summary space.

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Feature List (30 minutes)

• Set timer for 5 minutes.
• Each person writes as many features as they can think that will get users to write that kind of review (one per sticky).
• Each person steps forward and reads theirs, and groups them with identical ones.
• Each person gets 9 votes — all on one, on their own, however they want to vote. Just use all 9!
• Group them and see if there are any categories.
• Add top features to the…

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Effort/Impact (20 minutes)

• Draw a 2×2 grid, Impact on Y-Axis, Effort on X.
• Start in the middle, and place the top voted features on their respective quadrants by asking…
• “Does this require more or less effort?”
• “Would this have more or less impact?”
• Note the themes & categories that develop.
• Prioritize the top left quadrant.

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Wrap Up

• Take photos.
• Assemble a summary deck.
• Share with the team.
• Write a case study 9 months later.
• Profit!

You can check out templates from this Feature Sprint on SessionLab.

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