Foundation Sprints
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Direction · 2 of 12

Audience

Who this is really for, described closely enough to picture them, hear how they talk, and know what they need.

Sounds like what you need?

  • Choose the customer to build for first
  • Talk to real customers and hear it in their words
  • Understand what they use today, and why they'd switch
  • Describe it the way our customers would
  • Pin down the first thing they need from us

What the Direction Sprint looks like

The questions this sprint answers

  • What problem are we actually solving, and for whom does it hurt most?
  • Who is the one person we're building this for first?
  • What's our point of view on how things should be?
  • What's the core job someone hires this for?

Decisions we'll make together

  • Whether it's worth building, and for whom first
  • The one opportunity to go after
  • Who the first customer is
  • What they need most from you

Your week

  1. MonWorkshop — We confirm the scope, check the foundation, and agree what we're testing and how.
  2. TueExplore — Two or three directions for opportunity, audience, positioning and job.
  3. WedDirection lock — We review the directions together and choose one.
  4. ThuMake — The chosen direction, built out.
  5. FriDelivery — A walkthrough, and everything lands in your Hub.

You leave with: A competitive 2x2 · An opportunity brief · Personas · Their words for the problem · A positioning statement · Your promise and personality · Job & scope · A "won't do" list

Every sprint follows this shape; yours is written around your project when you start.

In a real project

Miles

What audience produced in a real engagement, exactly as the client has it. See the whole Hub

Audience definition

Two people, one product — and it has to satisfy both without alienating either.

Buyer: the parent of a newly licensed teen. Account owner and admin. Usually arrives right after something happened — a close call, an insurance quote, the day the license comes through.

Participant: the new driver. Not a subject being watched; a consent-needed participant with their own reason to want this (proving they're careful, keeping costs down, not being blamed).

Not for (yet): fleet managers, insurers, or parents looking for covert tracking.

Personas

  • The Driving Parent

    “I want to know they're okay — I don't want to be the one keeping score.”

    Account owner and admin. Wants to know the new driver is safe without becoming the person who polices every trip.

    Goals

    • Peace of mind while the teen is on the road
    • Something to talk about that isn't an accusation
    • Keep insurance and car costs in check

    Frustrations

    • Trackers that feel like spying
    • Apps that bury them in specs and alerts
    • Being cast as the bad guy

  • The New Driver

    “I'm already nervous. I don't need something watching my every move.”

    A teen who just got their license. A consent-needed participant, not a subject — with their own reason to want this.

    Goals

    • Earn trust and more independence
    • Not be blamed for things that weren't their fault
    • Get better without being lectured

    Frustrations

    • Feeling surveilled
    • Being judged by a score they can't see
    • Another naggy app

Buyer moments

What just happened → what they feel → what they fear next (from the Brand Foundation workshop)

  • A close call or fender bender → vulnerable, at risk → a worse accident; not knowing what to do or remember.
  • The first insurance quote for a teen → shocked → the teen always assumed to blame, costs climbing further.
  • The license comes through → "making a contract" with the new driver → getting the rules wrong from day one.
  • Teaching them to drive → wishing the older car had the new car's features.

Key language & insights

Words they used for what they don't want

"watching their every move" · "keeping score without keeping score" · "looking for bad things you're doing" · "naggy" · "another always-listening device"

Words for what they do want

"riding shotgun" · "non-judgey" · "fair" · "private" · "I can be myself" · "looking out for your best interests"

Insight: the product's worth is measured in tone. The same data reads as care or as surveillance depending entirely on how it's said.

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