In his book Getting Things Done, Allen provides a smart strategy for daunting jobs. The secret, Allen writes, is not to think about the task as one monolithic effort (like “Pay taxes”), but instead to find the first small action needed to make progress (like “Collect tax paperwork”) and go from there.

1. Put the letters “HMW” in the top left corner of your sticky note. 2. Wait. 3. When you hear something interesting, convert it into a question (quietly). 4. Write the question on your sticky note. 5. Peel off the note and set it aside.

Blue Bottle wanted to help customers find coffee they’d love. But coffee beans all look alike, so photos wouldn’t be helpful. To find useful solutions, the team did Lightning Demos of websites selling everything from clothes to wine, looking for ways to describe sensory details such as flavor, aroma, and texture.

Just like the goal, these questions guide the solutions and decisions throughout the sprint. They provide a quasi-checklist that you can refer to throughout the week and evaluate after Friday’s test.

How real is real enough? When you test your prototype on Friday, you’ll want your customers to react naturally and honestly. Show them something flimsy – a “paper prototype” made up of drawings, or a simplified wireframe of your design – and the illusion will break. Once the illusion is broken, customers switch into feedback mode. They’ll try to be

Michael’s advice to avoid leading questions comes down to just two rules: DON’T ask multiple choice or “yes/no” questions. (“Would you . . .?” “Do you . . .?” “Is it . . .?”) DO ask “Five Ws and One H” questions. (“Who . . .?” “What . . .?” “Where . . .?” “When . . .?” “Why . . .?” “How . . .?”)

But turning these potential problems into questions makes them easier to track – and easier to answer with sketches, prototypes, and tests. It also creates a subtle shift from uncertainty (which is uncomfortable) to curiosity (which is exciting).

In our sprint with Flatiron, the target (coordinators searching for matching trials) matched the sprint question “Will clinics change their workflow?” By testing a solution with real coordinators, we hoped to learn the answer.

“What will make this project a success?” “What’s our unique advantage or opportunity?” “What’s the biggest risk?”