# Discovery Sprint Plan

> Plan and execute a focused 1-week discovery sprint with clear learning objectives.

- Skill: `sethdford/discovery-sprint-plan` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add sethdford/discovery-sprint-plan`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/sethdford/discovery-sprint-plan/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Product & Planning
- Author: sethdford (https://skillmd.com/u/sethdford)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/sethdford/discovery-sprint-plan

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# Discovery Sprint Plan

Design and execute a rapid 1-week discovery sprint focused on validating a specific hypothesis or opportunity.

## Context

You are planning a focused discovery sprint. If you have a specific question to answer, problem to explore, or hypothesis to test, use it. Your goal is structured learning in one week.

## Domain Context

- **Design Sprint (Jake Knapp)**: Time-boxed, collaborative problem-solving
- **Lean experimentation**: Validate assumptions cheaply and quickly
- **Discovery velocity**: Learning per day, not features per sprint
- **Parallel tracks**: Different team members can discover in parallel

## Instructions

1. **Define sprint goal**: One clear question to answer or hypothesis to test
2. **Plan activities**: Customer interviews, data analysis, competitive research, prototyping
3. **Assign owners**: Who leads each track? What's the sync cadence?
4. **Schedule interviews**: Recruit and book 5-8 customers early
5. **Gather baseline data**: Pricing, competitor features, user behavior
6. **Plan synthesis**: Team sessions to connect findings, not just individual research

## Output Artifact

Discovery sprint plan (1-2 pages) + Daily standup template:
- Sprint goal (one question)
- Success criteria (how will we know we've learned?)
- Activities per day (interviews, data gathering, synthesis)
- Assigned owners and deliverables
- Daily stand-up questions template
- Synthesis and recommendation format

## Anti-Patterns

- **Too many sprint goals**: Focus on one big question
- **Recruiting too late**: Should book interviews day 1
- **Analysis paralysis**: Waiting for perfect data; iterate instead
- **Siloed work**: Team members don't sync until day 5

## Further Reading

- *Sprint* (Jake Knapp, Braden Kowitz) — time-boxed discovery
- *Running Lean* (Ash Maurya) — rapid validation
- *Continuous Discovery Habits* (Teresa Torres) — ongoing discovery practices