ux-design-sprint

What this skill does

<!-- VERSION: 1.1.0 | DATE: 2026-03-04 | SOURCE: skills/user-experience/SKILL.md | PARENT: /user-experience skill | REVISION: iter2 — add Context7 MCP to allowed-tools (T3 consistency), add HMW/interview citations, consolidate Wave Gating duplication -->

# Design Sprint Sub-Skill

> **Version:** 1.1.0
> **Framework:** Jerry User-Experience -- Design Sprint 2.0
> **Constitutional Compliance:** Jerry Constitution v1.0
> **Parent Skill:** `/user-experience` (`skills/user-experience/SKILL.md`)
> **Wave:** 5 (Process Intensives)
> **Project:** PROJ-022 User Experience Skill | GitHub Issue [#138](https://github.com/geekatron/jerry/issues/138)

## Document Sections

| Section | Purpose |
|---------|---------|
| [Document Audience](#document-audience-triple-lens) | Triple-Lens audience guide |
| [Purpose](#purpose) | Sub-skill overview and key capabilities |
| [When to Use This Sub-Skill](#when-to-use-this-sub-skill) | Activation triggers and scope boundaries |
| [Available Agents](#available-agents) | Single agent with role, model, and output location |
| [P-003 Compliance](#p-003-compliance) | Worker agent hierarchy position |
| [Invoking the Agent](#invoking-the-agent) | Invocation via ux-orchestrator |
| [Methodology](#methodology) | AJ&Smart Design Sprint 2.0 four-day process with detailed phase activities |
| [Output Specification](#output-specification) | Output location, L0/L1/L2 structure, required sections |
| [Routing](#routing) | Keywords and lifecycle-stage routing integration |
| [Cross-Framework Integration](#cross-framework-integration) | Handoff from JTBD/heuristic evaluation and to Lean UX/HEART metrics |
| [Synthesis Hypothesis Confidence](#synthesis-hypothesis-confidence) | Confidence classifications for Design Sprint outputs |
| [Quality Gate Integration](#quality-gate-integration) | S-014 scoring and H-13 threshold enforcement |
| [Degraded Mode Behavior](#degraded-mode-behavior) | Operation when Figma or Miro MCP unavailable |
| [Wave Architecture](#wave-architecture) | Wave 5 entry criteria, bypass conditions |
| [Constitutional Compliance](#constitutional-compliance) | Governing principles and AI-facilitated sprint limitations |
| [Registration](#registration) | H-26 parent-routed registration model and AGENTS.md confirmation |
| [Deployment Status](#deployment-status) | Wave 5 stub agent status and implementation timeline |
| [Quick Reference](#quick-reference) | Common workflows and agent selection hints |
| [References](#references) | Full repo-relative paths, requirements traceability, external citations |

## Document Audience (Triple-Lens)

This SKILL.md serves multiple audiences:

| Level | Audience | Sections to Focus On |
|-------|----------|---------------------|
| **L0 (Stakeholder)** | Product managers, designers, sprint participants | [Purpose](#purpose), [When to Use This Sub-Skill](#when-to-use-this-sub-skill), [Quick Reference](#quick-reference) |
| **L1 (Developer)** | Engineers invoking the agent | [Invoking the Agent](#invoking-the-agent), [Methodology](#methodology), [Output Specification](#output-specification) |
| **L2 (Architect)** | Workflow designers, skill maintainers | [Cross-Framework Integration](#cross-framework-integration), [Synthesis Hypothesis Confidence](#synthesis-hypothesis-confidence), [Degraded Mode Behavior](#degraded-mode-behavior) |

---

## Purpose

The Design Sprint sub-skill provides structured facilitation for the AJ&Smart Design Sprint 2.0 process -- a four-day compressed format (Courtney, 2019) adapted from the original Google Ventures five-day Design Sprint (Knapp, Zeratsky & Kowitz, 2016). It targets tiny teams (1-5 people) who need to rapidly move from a design challenge to a tested prototype without committing months to development.

This sub-skill is part of Wave 5 (Process Intensives), requiring Wave 4 completion before standard deployment. It provides the most intensive, end-to-end design validation process in the `/user-experience` skill, producing high-confidence synthesis signals from direct user testing on Day 4. A wave bypass condition allows teams at product inception ("don't know what to build") to access Design Sprint without completing prior waves.

### Key Capabilities

- **Day 1: Map** -- Facilitates challenge definition, user journey mapping, expert interview structuring, sprint question formulation, and target selection (user + key moment). Produces a shared map of the problem space that aligns the sprint team.
- **Day 2: Sketch** -- Guides lightning demo research, facilitates the four-step sketch process (Notes, Ideas, Crazy 8s, Solution Sketch), and structures Art Museum voting. Produces individual solution sketches with structured selection rationale.
- **Day 3: Decide** -- Facilitates straw poll voting, supervote decision-making, winning sketch selection, assumption identification, and prototype storyboard creation. Produces a detailed storyboard ready for prototype construction.
- **Day 4: Test** -- Guides realistic prototype construction, structures interviews with 5 representative users (Nielsen, 2000), facilitates observation and note-taking, and identifies thematic patterns across interviews. Produces validated findings with HIGH synthesis confidence.
- **Cross-Framework Synthesis** -- Sprint findings feed directly into `/ux-lean-ux` (hypothesis generation from validated learnings), `/ux-jtbd` (validated job stories from user interviews), and `/ux-heuristic-eval` (post-sprint evaluation of the prototype).

---

## When to Use This Sub-Skill

Activate when:

- The team does not know what to build and needs a structured process to go from challenge to tested prototype
- A critical design challenge requires rapid validation before committing development resources
- The team needs to test a product concept with real users within a compressed timeframe
- Stakeholder alignment is needed around a shared understanding of the problem and solution direction
- Multiple competing solution ideas exist and the team needs a structured selection and testing process
- Starting a new product or feature initiative and wanting to validate assumptions early
- Transitioning from discovery research (JTBD) into concrete solution exploration
- A cross-functional team needs to align around a single prototype direction

Do NOT use for:

- Evaluating an existing interface against usability heuristics -- use `/ux-heuristic-eval` (Nielsen's 10) instead. Use heuristic evaluation for existing products; Design Sprint is for new concepts and major redesigns.
- Building or auditing a component library -- use `/ux-atomic-design` (Atomic Design) instead.
- Accessibility compliance auditing -- use `/ux-inclusive-design` (WCAG 2.2) instead.
- Measuring quantitative UX health metrics -- use `/ux-heart-metrics` (Google GSM) instead. Use HEART after the sprint to measure the validated concept.
- Understanding user motivations at the job level -- use `/ux-jtbd` (Jobs-to-Be-Done) instead. JTBD identifies what users want; Design Sprint tests specific solutions.
- Diagnosing behavioral bottlenecks in existing products -- use `/ux-behavior-design` (Fogg B=MAP) instead.
- Iterating on hypotheses through build-measure-learn cycles -- use `/ux-lean-ux` (Lean UX) instead. Lean UX iterates; Design Sprint validates a single prototype in 4 days.
- Prioritizing features by user satisfaction impact -- use `/ux-kano-model` (Kano) instead.
- Security-focused interface review -- use `/eng-team` instead.
- General research without UX design sprint focus -- use `/problem-solving` instead.

---

## Available Agents

| Agent | Role | Tier | Mode | Model | Output Location |
|-------|------|------|------|-------|-----------------|
| `ux-sprint-facilitator` | AJ&Smart Design Sprint 2.0 facilitation | T4 | Systematic | Opus | `projects/${JERRY_PROJECT}/engagements/{engagement-id}/ux-sprint-facilitator-{topic-slug}.md` |

**STUB:** The agent definition file (`skills/ux-design-sprint/agents/ux-sprint-facilitator.md`) is p