Example data. Fieldnote is a fictional company used to fill all 61 boards, so the examples tell one consistent story.
Post-PMF Fieldnote, sketching session on 'HMW make the second logged job easier than the first': Ana, Karim, Tom and Julien, eight minutes each.
What the team took away
Sixteen sketches in eight minutes; 'same as last time' and the green dot for Marc got the most dots and went to the prototype.
How to run it
Preparation
Everyone who will build or decide, including engineers and the PM. Drawing skill is irrelevant; say it in the invite.
One HMW question or one screen to redesign, chosen before the session. Post it big at the top.
Paper folded in eight, or a 2x4 grid per person on the board, plus a timer visible to all.
Show two or three examples of ugly but useful sketches so people stop worrying about drawing.
Agenda
5 min
Brief Read the HMW or show the screen. Rule: eight ideas, one minute each, boxes not art, no talking, no erasing.
8 min
Eight minutes Start the timer, call each minute out loud. When someone is stuck, tell them to redraw their best idea with one thing changed.
10 min
Pick and detail Each person picks their strongest box and redraws it larger with a title and three annotations. Still silent.
12 min
Gallery walk Post the detailed sketches. Everyone walks and puts dots on the details they find interesting, not on whole sketches.
8 min
Explain the winners The three most dotted sketches: the author explains in 90 seconds. Others ask questions only, no critique.
2 min
Decide The decider names what goes to prototype. Write it down before leaving.
Pitfalls
Do not give ten minutes instead of eight. The pressure is the method; comfort produces the same idea eight times.
Do not let people present their sketch before the dot vote. Pitching skill would replace idea quality.
Do not run it without a decider. Eight sketches and no decision is an afternoon lost.
Afterwards
The chosen sketch goes to wireframes or a prototype within the week. Keep the other sketches in a shared folder; they resurface when the first prototype fails a test.