Sprint Design Patterns

A research sprint is not "ask Claude a bunch of questions and paste the answers into a doc." A research sprint is a time-boxed, structured investigation with a defined objective, a source strategy, an analysis framework, and a deliverable specification. The difference between the two is the difference between an intern Googling and an analyst producing intelligence.

The sprint has four phases. Phase one: scoping. Define the question in one sentence. Not "research AI trends" — that is a topic, not a question. "What are the three most adopted enterprise AI use cases in financial services in 2025, measured by deployment count?" That is a question with a measurable answer. Phase two: sourcing. Identify 3-5 source categories — analyst reports, vendor case studies, regulatory filings, trade publications, earnings call transcripts. Phase three: extraction. Pull specific data points from each source. Phase four: synthesis. Convert extracted data into a structured deliverable that answers the scoping question.

1. 1. Scope the Question Write the research question as a single sentence with measurable criteria. Bad: "Research competitor pricing." Good: "What are the published pricing tiers, feature gates, and contract minimums for the five largest competitors in our segment as of Q1 2026?"
2. 2. Define Source Categories List 3-5 source types that can answer different facets of the question. Each source category should contribute unique evidence — if two categories return the same data, one is redundant.
3. 3. Set the Time Box Research expands to fill available time. Set a hard stop — 90 minutes for a competitive brief, 4 hours for a market landscape, one day for a strategic assessment. When the clock runs out, synthesize what you have.