Thanks for the thoughtful response. I think I would challenge the idea that avoiding wireframes is only possible if you have an “established visual design language AND you have a comprehensive design system of assets already setup”. For the vast majority of work that I have done, I’ve had neither.

I’ve even been in a very similar situation as the one week design sprint you described and still not found a particular need to wireframe. Instead we focused on collaborative sketching for much of the time that we talked about layout. When I did bring things into a digital medium I attempted to approximate at least a minimum level of visual fidelity immediately. Any time I was about to create an element for the second time I would just make the first one a symbol or style and then reuse that. Whenever the thinking on visuals changed (which happened a lot more because we had visual design to react to early) I could just update that symbol in one place. You end up creating the asset library along the way instead of at the end where you would basically have to go through and redo/replace everything.

Additionally since writing this post I’ve heard from people both working in agencies and freelancing who’ve corroborated the benefits of similar trends in their own work. If they can do it then doesn’t that mean it’s possible for more than just established product organizations? I can’t speak too specifically to your point about scoping out estimates, but I have to think that there are other ways to go about accomplishing the same goal if other people are making it work.