499: How to implement a 2-hour design sprint to solve complex problems – with Teresa Cain

Product Mastery Now for Product Managers, Leaders, and Innovators

Solve problems as a team in just two hours – for product managers

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https://youtu.be/9U8rPKppeEY

TLDR

Imagine solving big product problems in just two hours instead of five days. Sounds impossible, right? Not anymore! Teresa Cain has cracked the code with her two-hour design sprint method. This quick and efficient approach to product innovation is changing the game for companies big and small.

In this article, we’ll explore:

• What a two-hour design sprint is and how it works
• Why it’s a game-changer for product teams
• How to run your own two-hour sprints
• Tools that make rapid innovation easier
• Real-world examples of two-hour sprints in action

Get ready to supercharge your product development process and leave your competition in the dust!

Why Speed Matters in Product Innovation

In today’s fast-paced world, product teams are always racing against the clock. The traditional five-day design sprint, made famous by Google, has been a go-to method for solving tough problems. But let’s face it – not everyone has five whole days to spare.

That’s where the two-hour design sprint comes in. It’s like the espresso shot of product innovation – quick, powerful, and gets the job done. But can you really solve complex problems in just 120 minutes? Teresa Cain says yes, and she’s got the results to prove it.

The Two-Hour Design Sprint: A Crash Course

So, what exactly is a two-hour design sprint? Think of it as a mini-version of the five-day process, but supercharged. Two hours is not a big time commitment, and it helps you get a group of stakeholders all together to solve a problem. Here’s how it breaks down:

1. Get to Know Your User (30 minutes)

First things first – who are you solving for? This step is all about understanding who your user is.

Example:

Imagine you’re designing a new dashboard for a fintech app. You need to know if you’re building it for an analyst who’ll use it daily or an executive who might look at it once a year. Big difference, right?

2. Dig into the Problem (30 minutes)

Now that you know your user, it’s time to get to the heart of the issue. What’s bugging them? What’s standing in their way? This is where you’ll use the classic “How might we…” question to frame the problem.

Example:

For our dashboard, we might ask, “How might we create a dashboard that helps analysts quickly spot trends and take action?”

Perhaps users are spending a lot of time on manual tasks. Maybe they’re popping between screens. Maybe they are using their mobile device or not even on a desktop computer. Maybe they’re moving buildings while they’re doing their different tasks.

3. Brainstorm and Choose Solutions (60 minutes)

This is where the magic happens. After you’ve thought about the problem as a group, you ideate and pitch your concepts as a group. Everyone puts their thinking caps on and starts throwing ideas around. At the end of the sprint, you will vote on the best solution and decide if you want to move forward to testing and prototyping.

Why Two-Hour Sprints are a Game-Changer

You might be thinking, “Sounds great, but does it really work?” According to Cain’s research, the answer is a resounding yes. Here’s why two-hour sprints are shaking things up:

Benefit	What It Means for You
More Sprints, More Solutions	Run up to 52 sprints a year instead of just a few
Budget-Friendly	Less time and money spent compared to five-day sprints, but similar results
Team Bonding	Brings people together more often, improving communication
Faster Results	Get from idea to action quicker than ever

The best part? Cain found that 80% of the time, two-hour sprints led to the same solutions as five-day sprints. Talk about efficiency!

Would you rather spend two hours and solve 50 problems in a year or do three, five-day design sprints and solve three problems? With two-hour sprints, you can solve more problems.

How to Bring Two-Hour Sprints to Your Team

Ready to give two-hour sprints a try? Here’s how to get started:

Pick the Right Problems

Not every issue needs a sprint. Look for problems that:

• Need a quick fix
• You already know something about
• Could benefit from a group brainstorm

Cain suggests focusing on any problem that you need to solve immediately and already have ideation on, perhaps in your backlog or from a client request.

Get the Right People in the Room

Aim for a group of 15-20 stakeholders.

Train Your Team

The beauty of two-hour sprints is that anyone can lead them. This process is meant for anyone in the organization to run it as the moderator. So spread the knowledge!

Follow Through

The sprint might end after two hours, but the work doesn’t. Make sure to:

• Assign next steps to team members
• Set up time to test your ideas with real users
• Add your solutions to your product roadmap

Tools to Make Your Sprints Zoom

In today’s digital world, the right tools can make all the difference. Here are some top picks for two-hour sprints:

Tool	What It’s Great For
Figma/FigJam	Designing and brainstorming together
Miro	Digital whiteboarding and teamwork
Mural	Planning and organizing ideas visually

These tools help teams work together smoothly, whether they’re in the same room or spread across the globe.

Overcoming Speed Bumps

Like any new method, two-hour sprints come with their own challenges. Here’s how to tackle them:

Keeping the Customer in Mind

With less time, it’s easy to forget about the user. To avoid this:

• Do your homework on user needs before the sprint
• Invite people who talk to customers regularly
• Use real data to guide your discussions

Avoiding Hasty Decisions

The clock is ticking, but don’t rush to solutions. Instead:

• Follow the sprint structure closely
• Encourage different viewpoints
• Keep asking “How might we…” to stay problem-focused

Balancing Speed and Quality

Fast doesn’t have to mean sloppy. To keep standards high:

• Set clear goals for each sprint
• Use timers to keep discussions on track
• Plan for follow-up research after the sprint

AI: Friend or Foe in Design Sprints?

With AI tools like ChatGPT making waves, it’s natural to wonder how they fit into the sprint process. Cain advises caution: Since ChatGPT doesn’t know your productor users, use it with a grain of salt.

Real-World Success: Two-Hour Sprints in Action

Want to see how two-hour sprints work in the real world? Let’s look at how Cain’s team at TreviPay, a leader in global billing, puts them to use:

What They Do	How They Do It
Run 52 sprints a year	One sprint every week
Involve 30-40 team members	Mix of product, UX, and design experts
Focus on urgent needs	Address client requests and market changes
Act on results quickly	Turn sprint outcomes into user stories right away

This approach helps TreviPay stay ahead in a fast-moving industry with new competitors popping up all the time.

The Future of Problem-Solving

As we look ahead, it’s clear that quick thinking and adaptability are key. The two-hour sprint method is just the beginning of a shift in how we tackle product challenges.

What’s on the horizon for product innovation?

• More AI and machine learning in the idea process
• Faster ways to build and test prototypes
• Better tools for remote and asynchronous teamwork
• Using data to drive more decisions in product development

Conclusion

The two-hour design sprint is a powerful tool for any product team looking to innovate faster and smarter. By packing the essence of design thinking into a compact, high-energy session, you can tackle more problems, involve more people, and drive innovation at warp speed.

Ready to give it a shot? Here’s your quick-start guide:

1. Learn the basics of the two-hour sprint method
2. Teach your team how to run and participate in sprints
3. Pick a small problem for your first sprint
4. Run the sprint and gather feedback
5. Keep refining your process and do sprints regularly

By embracing this fast, user-focused approach to problem-solving, you’ll be well on your way to creating products that your customers will love and that will keep your business ahead of the curve.

Useful links:

• Check out Teresa’s book Solving Problems in 2 Hours
• Visit Teresa’s website
• Connect with Teresa on LinkedIn
• Check out Teresa’s work on Figma and Udemy
• Listen to episode 288: Design sprints for product managers – with John Zeratsky

Innovation Quote

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein

Application Questions

1. How might we integrate two-hour design sprints into our current product development process? What specific challenges or opportunities in our workflow could benefit most from this rapid problem-solving approach?
2. Considering our organization’s unique culture and team dynamics, how can we ensure that two-hour sprints maintain a deep understanding of user needs while leveraging the efficiency of the shorter format?
3. In what ways could we use collaborative tools like Figma, Miro, or Mural to enhance our two-hour sprints, especially for remote or hybrid teams? How might these tools change the way we ideate and make decisions?
4. How can we balance the quick pace of two-hour sprints with the need for thorough follow-up and implementation? What processes could we put in place to ensure sprint outcomes are effectively integrated into our product roadmap?
5. Reflecting on our recent product challenges, can you identify a specific problem we faced that could have benefited from a two-hour sprint? How might the outcome have been different if we had used this method?

Bio

We’ve talked before about design sprints with John Zeratsky, who co-created a way to solve big problems at Google in just 5 days, resulting in the popular 5-day design sprint. What if you don’t have 5 days, but 2 hours? It turns out you can still solve a lot of complex problems in a 2 hour design sprint if you know how. Think about that — being able to confidently solve complex problems with a team in only 2 hours instead of days.

To tell us how to gain have that confidence, Teresa Cain is with us. She is the bestselling author of Solving Problems in 2 Hours: How to Brainstorm and Create Solutions with Two Hour Design Sprints, whose first edition became an instant hit among tech teams worldwide. The all new edition, which includes new AI tools, is now available. She is currently the Director of Product Management, User Experience and Design for TreviPay, a leader in global billing and invoicing. She is also the founder of Lucid Startup Consulting, a training firm focused on research, strategy, and vision for product managers, UX teams, businesses and entrepreneurs.

Thanks!

Thank you for taking the journey to product mastery and learning with me from the successes and failures of product innovators, managers, and developers. If you enjoyed the discussion, help out a fellow product manager by sharing it using the social media buttons you see below.