Why the first day of a sprint is your secret weapon
The Design Sprint phases
Most teams are eager to jump straight to brainstorming solutions. It feels fast, fun, and productive. But in reality, that rush often leads to building the wrong thing, solutions in search of a problem.
That’s why Day 1 of a Design Sprint is the most powerful part of the process. It may look deceptively simple, talking, mapping, defining, but it’s the foundation that makes bold solutions possible.
As Jake Knapp, creator of the Design Sprint, put it: “Day 1 is about setting the stage. It’s not glamorous, but it’s what makes the sprint work.”
Clarity before creativity
Einstein once said: “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes defining it, and five minutes solving it.”
This mindset is at the heart of Day 1.
Research in organisational psychology confirms that poorly defined problems are one of the main causes of innovation failure. By contrast, clearly framed challenges lead to higher-quality ideas and stronger implementation.
Day 1 delivers this clarity by:
Reducing risk: ensuring the team is solving the right problem, not a symptom.
Aligning teams: creating a shared mental model across disciplines (Weick, 1995, Sensemaking in Organizations).
Building momentum: giving everyone confidence in the direction before moving to ideas.
Saving time: cutting months of unproductive meetings and debate.
Clarity isn’t a “nice-to-have”, it’s what separates successful innovation from wasted effort.
What actually happens on day 1
The Design Sprint process structures Day 1 around a series of exercises that move a team from uncertainty → alignment:
Set a Long-Term Goal
The team starts by looking ahead: “If we nailed this, what would success look like in 6, 12, or even 24 months?”
This goal doesn’t need to be perfect, but it does need to be ambitious and clear enough to give direction for the week.Ask the Tough Questions
Next, the team surfaces all the doubts and risks. What could go wrong? What has to be true for this to work? These become sprint questions, a way of shining a light on the unknowns.Map the Journey
Together, the group sketches out the user journey in 5–10 simple steps. It’s not a process map with every detail, just a clear, high-level picture of how a customer or user experiences the product or service today.Hear from Experts
Instead of assuming the team knows everything, you bring in experts — people who see the problem from different angles. It could be a customer service rep, a legal advisor, or a technical lead. Their input grounds the conversation in reality.Reframe Problems into Opportunities
Insights and pain points are turned into “How Might We” questions. This is where the energy shifts: instead of focusing on blockers, the team starts to see possibilities.Choose a Target
By the end of the day, the team narrows in on one specific area of the challenge to tackle. It might feel uncomfortable to zoom in so tightly, but this focus is what makes the sprint powerful.
By the end of Day 1, the team has a long-term goal, sprint questions, a map, and a chosen target. This is the clarity that powers the next few days.
The facilitator’s superpower
The facilitator’s job is not to solve the problem. It’s to shape the conditions for the team to solve it together.
A great facilitator knows how to:
Set the tone – The energy in the room often mirrors the facilitator. If you’re calm, confident, and welcoming, the team will follow your lead.
Create safety – People need to feel comfortable speaking up, even if their ideas are half-formed or they’re voicing risks. Simple things like acknowledging contributions, keeping the mood light, and balancing airtime make a huge difference.
Stay neutral – A facilitator doesn’t take sides. Their role is to make sure the decision-making process is fair, structured, and focused — so the loudest voice in the room doesn’t automatically win.
The facilitator is constantly reading the room, adjusting the pace, and making sure every voice adds to the shared picture. That’s the superpower: not solving the problem yourself, but creating the conditions where the team can solve it together.
From clarity to mastery
Day 1 may be the quietest part of a sprint, but it’s also the most powerful. It’s where uncertainty turns into focus, and where a group of individuals becomes a team with a shared direction.
At Design Sprint X, we know how challenging it can be to create that kind of clarity — which is why we’ve built a full learning journey for teams and leaders who want to master sprints for themselves.
Our introductory course, Indigo, is already live — giving you the essentials of design sprints and problem framing.
Soon, we’ll be launching Violet and Ultra-Violet, advanced programmes that dive deeper into facilitation mastery, Day 1 alignment, and how to confidently run end-to-end sprints inside your organisation.
👉 If you’re ready to stop wasting time in endless meetings and start running sprints with confidence, check out Indigo today and get ready for what’s coming next!