The method behind the madness
You shipped the thing. No one used it. Here’s what to do instead.
You shipped the thing. No one used it.
Support tickets pile up. Team morale dips. Execs want answers.
You followed the process. But you built the wrong thing.
Most teams build solutions based on what they think people need. It’s why projects fail, features go unused, and delivery teams burn out solving problems nobody actually has.
For months, I’ve been writing about individual tools. Testing them in the wild. You may have seen my Substack or Medium articles. Maybe you’ve even liked or saved them. Thank you!
Each post was a small experiment, a way to see if these ideas resonated before I declared what was really brewing.
I’ve hesitated from explicitly labeling the suite of tools as “Proof Sprint,” a validation loop for testing assumptions and shaping solutions.
I’ve mostly referred to it as “the toolkit” and talked about the individual tools: Evidence Box, Requirements Compass, Behavior Lens, and Solution Field Map.
This is because defining a new “method” for something we’ve been doing for ages felt overly assertive, perhaps even too self-important. But the reality is that something has been simmering behind the tools for the last 6+ months.
The secret? The tools aren’t the point. The validation loop is.
Proof Sprint is not a process, it’s a loop
Proof Sprint isn’t a linear process.
The magic isn’t in any single tool. It’s in how they challenge and work with each other.
For example, the Requirements Compass starts off with a hypothesis. A Problem as Given (PAG): Usually a mixed bag of real problems, assumptions, desires, preferences, and solution ideas.
The Behavior Lens tests that hypothesis against the business processes: What people actually do, not what they say they do.
Together, the Requirements Compass and the Behavior Lens feed the Evidence Box, transforming your “Problem as Given” (PAG) into a “Problem as Understood” (PAU) aka validated problem statement.
You haven’t earned the right to talk solutions until then.
Once you reach this point, the Solution Field Map helps you explore solution options based on what’s actually happening, not what someone in a boardroom decided was happening three months ago.
Interesting solution ideas feed back into the Evidence Box. What worked. What failed. What surprised you.
But here’s the secret sauce: the loop back changes everything.
When the Evidence Box shows gaps, you cycle back to the Compass with sharper questions.
When solution tests fail, you revisit your problem statement.
When patterns emerge, you see things you missed before.
That’s the power of the loop. It’s not just learning, it’s compounding clarity.
A quick example
Imagine you’re packing for your partner’s critical business trip. High-stakes client meetings. No time to shop. If you miss something, it’s not just inconvenient. It’s reputational.
They land, rush into meetings, and their laptop dies. No charger. Your stomach drops. You had one job.
This is exactly like product work: limited resources, high expectations, and no room for waste.
The Requirements Compass helps you separate the noise (“pack two pairs of dress shoes just in case”) from the signal (“maintain professional presence while staying connected”).
The Behavior Lens shows what actually happens: your partner rushes out of hotel rooms, leaving chargers plugged in the wall — something that oddly only happens on multi-city trips, not single-location stays.
The Solution Field Map explores options: duplicate chargers, morning checklists, multi-device charging hubs.
The Evidence Box captures what worked (dual-charger system), what failed (morning checklist was ignored), and what surprised you (it’s not about forgetfulness, it’s about rushed morning routines).
Before the next trip, you revisit the Evidence Box, adjust your approach, and loop back. Each cycle deepens clarity.
Modular by design
You don’t need the full loop to get value. Start where the friction is:
Use the Requirements Compass if you’re drowning in opinions and assumptions, but can’t find evidence.
Use the Behavior Lens if process maps say one thing, but users keep doing something else.
Use the Solution Field Map when everyone has an opinion on what the solution should be, and they’re all pointing in different directions.
Not sure where to start?
Begin with the Evidence Box — it’s the hub. A single view of what’s real, what’s working, and what still needs digging.
From method to mindset
When teams embrace Proof Sprint, the transformation is visible:
Business Analysts stop chasing perfect documentation, and start surfacing the right problems faster.
Product Teams move from assumption-driven to evidence-led, without slowing down delivery.
Delivery Leads shift from managing work to enabling clarity, before it hits the backlog.
The validation loop recap
Requirements Compass → What might matter
Behavior Lens → What actually happens
Solution Field Map → What we could do
Evidence Box → What we’ve learned
→ Back to Compass, Lens or Solution Field Map depending on the context, but with sharper thinking
Every cycle makes your thinking sharper. Assumptions become insights. Guesses become evidence. What felt like noise starts to reveal patterns.
Think before you build
This isn’t just another framework. It’s a method. A quiet correction to the way delivery teams work.
Proof Sprint can typically be run in 1–2 weeks per feature or epic. For fast-moving teams or extra-small projects, it can be completed in 2–3 days. For complex projects, it might stretch across multiple weeks, especially when solution validation is needed.
The point is: the Proof Sprint method can scale up or down depending on the context and complexity of your project.
Start small. Scale as needed. Each tool adds clarity, but you don’t need them all to begin.
It’s a method today. A mindset tomorrow. And maybe, if we get it right, a movement.
Stop building on bad assumptions. Not all requirements are real. Stress test before you invest. Build only what’s real.
Clarity before delivery. Always.
Liked this piece? Here are a few ways to go deeper:
See it live: Join a free Proof Lab to catch one of the tools in action.
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Explore the method: Visit proofsprint.com for the full toolkit.