A design sprint is a five-day process developed at Google Ventures and described in the book Sprint. The team maps a problem on Monday, sketches solutions, decides on one, builds a prototype and tests it with users by Friday.
Continuous discovery, as Teresa Torres describes it in Continuous Discovery Habits, is a habit rather than an event. The people building the product talk to customers every week and test small ideas as part of their normal work.
How they differ
| Design sprint | Continuous discovery | |
|---|---|---|
| Rhythm | One week, once | Every week, ongoing |
| Suits | A big, contested decision | Steady improvement of an existing product |
| Result | A tested prototype and a decision | A flow of small, validated changes |
| Needs | The decision-makers, in the room all week | A team that talks to users regularly |
Choosing between them
Use a sprint when choosing wrong would be expensive and the team is stuck: a new product direction, a major redesign, a launch with a fixed date. Much of its value comes from getting the people who can say yes into the room for the whole week.
Use discovery when the product already exists and the job is making it better. It ties the backlog to what customers struggle with.
The two fit together. Discovery turns up the questions, and a sprint can settle the large ones. A UX audit is a common input to either.