Solution Sketching Workshop SOP

A solution sketching workshop SOP turns a validated problem into a handful of concrete solution ideas and one clear choice, in a single day. Four to seven people work alone, side by side, then vote silently and hand the final call to one decision maker. Group brainstorming rewards the loudest person in the room. Sketching alone rewards the best idea. You leave with drawn solutions you can show customers within a week.

What is the solution sketching workshop SOP and when should you use it?

This SOP adapts the sketch and decide days of the five-day Google Ventures process that Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky and Braden Kowitz described in their book. Its central habit is to "work alone together": everyone sketches individually, at the same time, in the same room. The sketching follows four steps: notes, rough ideas, Crazy 8s (eight variations in eight minutes) and a detailed three-panel solution sketch. Decisions use a silent art museum, a heat map of dot votes, a short speed critique, a straw poll and a final supervote by one Decider.

Use this SOP:

• After a problem-solution fit canvas, when the problem is clear and the team holds five different solutions in their heads.
• When co-founders keep arguing about what to build first and each idea lives only in conversation.
• Before concept testing, to produce the 2 to 4 ideas worth putting on concept boards.

This workshop runs with your team and one or two advisors. If you want customers to design with you, use the customer co-creation SOP.

What do you need before you start?

• A validated problem statement and a one-page research summary: top quotes, numbers from interviews, existing solutions.
• 4 to 7 participants: founders, someone who talks to customers, someone who knows the tech, and an outside advisor if possible. Knapp's book caps the group at seven.
• A Decider: one person, named in advance, who makes the final call.
• A host who runs the timer and keeps everyone on the agenda.
• Materials: A4 paper, thick black markers, sticky notes, dot stickers, a timer. For remote teams, a Miro or FigJam board with a frame per person.

How do you run it, step by step?

1. Prepare the research wall

Before the day, print or paste the problem statement, the best customer quotes, a simple map of the customer's steps around the problem and screenshots of existing solutions. Invite participants and block the full day in their calendars with phones away.

2. Open with lightning talks and HMW notes

Spend 60 to 90 minutes on short talks: the founder on the problem, someone on customer research, someone on existing solutions. While listening, everyone writes HMW notes: one question per sticky note that reframes a problem as an opportunity, such as "HMW show siblings a missed dose the same evening?" Group them on the wall and dot-vote the strongest three.

3. Choose the target moment

On the customer map, the Decider picks the moment the solution must change, such as "the evening the parent realises a form is due tomorrow". Every sketch will address that moment, so the ideas stay comparable.

4. Sketch alone in four rounds

Notes (20 minutes): walk the wall and copy anything useful. Ideas (20 minutes): scribble rough ideas privately. Crazy 8s (8 minutes): fold a sheet into eight panels and sketch eight variations of your best idea, one minute each. Solution sketch (30 to 90 minutes): draw one idea as three panels, with real words instead of lorem ipsum, a catchy title and no names. It must make sense without its author explaining it.

5. Run the art museum, heat map and speed critique

Tape all solution sketches to the wall. Everyone reads in silence and places dot stickers on the parts they like, which builds a heat map. Then spend three minutes per sketch: the host narrates it, the group names standout ideas, and the author speaks last to add anything missed.

6. Straw poll and supervote

Each person places one vote on their favourite sketch, explaining it in a sentence. Then the Decider places the supervote. The Decider can pick one sketch, combine parts of two, or choose two to test against each other. Write the choice and the reason on the wall.

7. Book the customer test before you leave

Turn the winner into a storyboard or concept board within two days and book 5 customer conversations for the same week. A workshop with no customer test scheduled ends as a nice day out.

Template you can copy

AGENDA (one day, 4–7 people)
09:30  Lightning talks: problem, research, existing solutions (60–90 min)
       Everyone writes HMW notes during talks
11:00  Group HMW notes, dot vote, Decider picks the target moment (30 min)
11:30  Notes (20 min) → Ideas (20 min) → Crazy 8s (8 min)
12:30  Lunch
13:30  Solution sketch: 3 panels, anonymous, real words (60–90 min)
15:15  Art museum + heat map (20 min)
15:35  Speed critique, 3 min per sketch (30 min)
16:10  Straw poll (10 min) → Decider supervote (5 min)
16:30  Plan the customer test: storyboard owner, 5 customer slots, date

SOLUTION SKETCH SHEET
Title: __________________
Panel 1: what the customer sees first
Panel 2: what they do
Panel 3: what they get
Rules: no names, real words, readable without explanation

DECISION RECORD
Target moment: ____  Winning sketch(es): ____  Reason: ____
Riskiest assumption: ____  Test format: ____  Test date: ____

Worked example: adult children managing a parent's medication

This is an illustrative case. A team of three founders plus two advisors (a pharmacist and a home care coordinator) works on the problem of adult children who manage an elderly parent's medication from a distance. Their research wall holds quotes from 14 interviews and the finding that siblings coordinate in a family WhatsApp group.

The Decider picks the target moment "a dose is missed and nobody in the family notices until the next day". The five participants produce 40 Crazy 8s panels and five solution sketches. The heat map clusters on two: "Family dose board", a shared checklist in WhatsApp that pings siblings when a dose is not ticked, and "Pharmacy pack sync", built on the pharmacist's knowledge of blister packs.

The straw poll splits 3 to 2. The Decider supervotes the dose board, borrowing the blister pack labels from the second sketch. Four days later the team shows a storyboard to 6 caregivers: 5 explain it back correctly and 4 ask when they can try it, which sends the idea into a concept test against one alternative.

What should you measure, and when do you stop?

Stop when the Decider has chosen and the customer test is booked. Running a second workshop on the same problem before any customer has seen the first result wastes the team's time; test first, then decide whether you need another round.

Which mistakes should you avoid?

• Open group brainstorming. Shouting ideas lets confident people win. Keep every round silent and individual.
• No named Decider. Without one, the day ends in a compromise nobody believes in.
• Skipping the research wall. Sketches without customer evidence produce features the team likes.
• Polished sketches. Stick figures and boxes are enough. Time spent on drawing quality is time lost on the idea.
• Too many people. Above seven, critiques run long and quiet people stop contributing.

How can AI speed this up?

Before the day, an AI assistant can condense interview notes into the one-page research summary and suggest HMW questions to seed the wall. After the workshop, photograph the sketches and ask it to describe each one in text, which speeds up storyboarding. Keep AI out of the sketching rounds: the point is to get ideas out of the heads of people who know the customer. The F/MS startup playbook module covers how to move from the chosen idea to a first test.

Where does this SOP fit in your validation plan?

Run it at the start of Solution Validation, after the problem-solution fit canvas and, if your customer's steps are unclear, a customer journey map. After the workshop, turn the winner into a solution storyboard, compare it with alternatives in a concept test and later a prototype test. Knapp's book and other team method books are summarised on 100 startup books, and the Fe/male Switch startup game lets you practise team decisions with real deadlines.

FAQ

What is a solution sketching workshop?

A structured session where a small team sketches solution ideas individually, then votes silently and lets one Decider choose. It turns a validated problem into one or two concrete ideas ready for customer testing.

What are Crazy 8s?

A sketching exercise from the Google Ventures process: fold a sheet into eight panels and draw eight variations of one idea in eight minutes. It pushes people past their first idea.

Can I run a sketching workshop remotely?

Yes. Use a Miro or FigJam board with one frame per person, keep cameras on during silent rounds and have people sketch on paper and upload photos. Timers and dot voting work the same way online.

How many people should join?

Four to seven. Fewer than four gives you too few sketches to compare; more than seven makes critiques slow.