Why Design Sprints will change in the AI era

The original Design Sprint assumed five days, sticky notes, and a room. AI changes the speed of prototyping but not the hard part — asking the right questions. Three sprints later, here’s what I’d change.

The original format is showing its age

Jake Knapp’s Design Sprint was revolutionary when it came out. Five days, a clear structure, a prototype on Friday. But the world has moved on.

What AI changes

With AI tools, you can now:

• Generate 10 prototype variations in an hour instead of spending a day on one
• Synthesize user research in minutes instead of hours
• Create realistic-looking interfaces without a designer in the room

What AI doesn’t change

The hard parts remain:

• Defining the right problem still takes human judgment
• Talking to real users can’t be automated
• Making decisions still requires someone with context

My modified format

I now run sprints in 3 days instead of 5, with AI handling the prototyping grunt work. The time saved goes into more user conversations.