The way in · Two to three weeks · One fixed price
Launch discovery sprint
In two to three weeks, the client knows what stands in the way and what to do first.
Book intro call Read the sample plan
Or write to hello@sandbucket.io
December 2026 start available.
Is the sprint right for the business?
A good fit
- About to launch or fix a way of selling online, and not sure what to do first
- One question to answer, in the client's own words
- A sponsor who can give about two hours a week and make the decisions
An invented example of the question: Our customers still call to order. Where do we start so they'll order online?
Not the right start
- A tested plan already exists, and screens or software are needed now. That work belongs to the design partner or the design system offer.
The sprint ends with a decision, and "not yet" is a valid one.
Week by week
What happens
- Before the startInterviews booked, data on hand
- Week 1Find out what is trueKickoff
- Week 2Make sense of itMidpoint check
- Week 3Decide and hand overReadout
Before the start
- The agreement and statement of work are signed, and access is granted.
- The client names the people to interview. Sandbucket schedules every interview before day one.
- The client sends the documents and data on an agreed list.
Week 1: find out what is true
- Kickoff on day one: confirm the question, the one buying flow to study, who is interviewed, and who decides what.
- Walk the flow as a customer would, on a phone and on a desktop, and record every place it stalls.
- Interview the people who sell, fulfill, support and manage, and one or two customers where the client can arrange it. Each person shows how the work is done.
- Read the real material: the catalog export, order data, support logs, site analytics and the current plan.
- A status note goes to the sponsor on Friday.
Week 2: make sense of it
- Map how buying works today, and check the map against a live order.
- List what the catalog, operations and systems will and will not allow.
- Midpoint check with the sponsor, 30 minutes: the problem in draft, the findings that matter, and any choice between directions, shown evenly as options.
- Map how buying should work in the direction chosen.
- A second status note on Friday.
Week 3: decide and hand over
- Finish the readiness assessment. Each item is marked ready, not ready or not assessed, with its evidence. There is no score.
- Write the plan by milestone. Milestone 1 is the least that makes the change work for real customers.
- Send the draft two working days before the readout, so the meeting is for deciding.
- Readout, 60 to 90 minutes. The sponsor decides to proceed, to proceed once named conditions are met, or to stop.
- Hand over every deliverable into the client's own files.
In a two-week sprint, weeks 2 and 3 run as one week, and the midpoint check is a written note.
What the client gets
Seven deliverables, each written for the people who will use it
| Deliverable | What it covers | Written for |
|---|---|---|
| Problem statement | One page on what is wrong today, in the client's words, with the evidence for each point | The sponsor and leadership |
| Today's buying flow | Every step from a customer's need to a delivered order, and where it breaks | Sales, operations and the site's owner |
| The buying flow as it should be | The same map redrawn, each change tied to a finding | Sales, operations and engineering |
| Constraints list | What the catalog, operations and systems allow, each item marked fixed or changeable | Engineering and operations |
| Readiness assessment | What has to be true to launch, in each of the four tests below, each item marked ready, not ready or not assessed | The sponsor and leadership |
| Plan by milestone | What to do, in order, with an acceptance check for each milestone | Whoever funds and runs the work |
| Decision log and handoff note | Every decision made, and a note that lets someone new pick up the work | Whoever carries the work forward |
Plus three working sessions: the kickoff, the midpoint check and the readout.
What the assessment checks
Four tests of ready
- Ready to competeSomeone new to the business can tell what it makes and why, before comparing prices.Define
- Ready to sellA customer finds the product, sees their own price and orders without calling.Build · Deliver
- Ready to runAn order moves from placed to delivered without anyone retyping it.Deliver
- Ready to scaleTwice the orders would not take twice the people.Deliver
What the client gives
Mostly time.
- A sponsor for about two hours a week, who answers questions and makes the decisions.
- Up to eight people (five in a two-week sprint) for interviews of 45 minutes each.
- The documents and data on the agreed list, by day three, and access to the systems on it.
- The kickoff, the 30-minute midpoint check and the readout of 60 to 90 minutes.
Price
Two to three weeks, one fixed price, agreed before work starts. A deposit is due on signing. The price is given on the first call and written into the statement of work. Nothing is designed or built during the sprint, and that keeps the price fixed.
Not included
Screen design, copy, brand work, development, platform selection, and research beyond the agreed flow and interview count. A second question or a second buying flow is a second sprint or a written change, agreed first.
After the sprint
The plan belongs to the client. Milestone 1 can go to Sandbucket, to another team or to the client's own staff. When Sandbucket carries the work on, the handoff note becomes the brief for the next engagement.
See a sample
A one-page sample plan
Written for an invented regional distributor, to show the shape of the work. It holds no client material.
How to start
- An intro callThe situation, and whether a sprint fits.
- A one-page statement of workThe question at the top, the price, the dates.
- The work startsA discovery sprint, or straight into an offer when the need is clear.
Book intro call
The call covers the business's situation and whether a discovery sprint fits. If it does, a one-page statement of work follows, with the business's own question at the top.
Or write to hello@sandbucket.io. Replies within one business day.