Streamlining Product Development: A Notion-Based Shape Up Methodology
This Notion-based Shape Up approach is designed to simplify product development, reduce chaos, and increase team efficiency.
Introduction
Are you tired of the chaotic nightmare of traditional project management tools like Jira? This blog post outlines a streamlined, Notion-based approach to product development using the Shape Up methodology. This method focuses on delivering innovative features in six-week cycles, followed by two weeks of cool-down or bug-fixing. It’s designed to be simple, efficient, and transparent for everyone in your organization. Whether you're a solo founder or part of a large team, this approach can bring clarity and focus to your product development process. This system encourages strategic thinking, faster development cycles, and better alignment between teams. The best part is that you don't need to be a Notion expert to start applying these principles today.
Time Investment: Understanding and implementing this system may require a few hours of initial setup and learning. It's worth the investment for long-term gains.
Target Audience: This guide is for product managers, project managers, engineers, designers, and anyone involved in product development who wants a more effective and transparent way to work.
Prerequisites: A basic understanding of product development concepts. While reading the book "Shape Up" will provide a more thorough understanding, this guide should be helpful on its own.
The Core Principles: Shape Up Methodology
The Shape Up methodology is based around six-week build cycles, a two-week cool-down period, and a focus on problem-first thinking. Let's break it down:
1. Pitching: Problem-Focused One-Pagers
Start with the Problem: Every product or feature begins with a problem. Instead of immediately jumping to solutions, start by deeply understanding the issue. What is the pain point? Who is experiencing it? What are the motivations behind solving this problem? This should be articulated in a brief research paper.
Time Boxing/Appetite: Rather than setting estimates (that can often lead to missed deadlines), define how much time you're willing to spend to solve a particular problem. This constraint helps focus the solution and prevents endless scope creep. For example, you may decide to allocate seven days for a certain problem.
Solution (High-Level): After defining the problem and setting a time box, describe the high-level solution. Avoid getting into the nitty-gritty details. Focus on the core functionality you want to build. This should be a few paragraphs, not a detailed spec.
Rabbit Holes: Identify any known potential pitfalls or roadblocks. Are there areas of the project that might lead to unexpected complications? Document them.
Out of Bounds: What aspects of the project are not within the current scope? Defining what is explicitly not being worked on helps maintain focus.
Success Criteria: Define how you will measure the success of this solution. If possible, include quantifiable metrics. However, remember some aspects of work may be difficult to measure directly.
2. Pitch Bucketing and Statuses
Organize by Product Areas: Divide your projects into product areas or sections (e.g., Task Management, Health, Core Platform). These categories provide structure to the pitches.
Pitch Statuses: Assign statuses to pitches:
Idea: A very basic concept with minimal development.
Needs PM Meeting: The idea needs to be discussed with a product manager for more technical direction.
Needs Shaping: The idea is not fully developed and needs further refinement and prioritization.
Pitch Complete: The one-pager is completed, and the pitch is ready to be picked up.
Shaping: The process of refining ideas from abstract concepts to well-defined project pitches, focusing on breaking down large ideas into achievable parts.
3. Build Cycles: Six Weeks to Ship
Time-boxed Sprints: Build cycles are six weeks (30 days) long. This fixed timeframe emphasizes focus and accountability.
Betting on Pitches: Leadership or PM team choose which "Pitch Complete" items to move into the build cycle.
All-Inclusive Time: The allocated time for each pitch covers design, development, testing, QA, and deployment. Note: Actual launch to users might be outside the build cycle.
Transparency & Strategic Thinking
This process fosters transparency and strategic thinking:
Company-Wide Clarity: Everyone knows what the engineering team is working on, preventing miscommunication and frustration.
Strategic Planning: The process forces a strategic mindset by encouraging documentation and planning, preventing teams from getting lost or changing direction without cause.
Increased Understanding: People from various departments can review project pitches and understand the rationale behind development work.
Improved Prioritization: The process encourages the team to evaluate and prioritize effectively. For example, if the same request is frequently made, it will surface and become a high-priority item.
Ongoing Cadence: Weekly Sinks and Retrospectives
Weekly Sinks (15 mins):
Held every Monday.
Briefly address any issues from the weekend that might impact the current cycle.
Update on what each person is doing, using pitch tags to keep things organized.
Identify blockers or action items.
Retrospectives (30 mins):
Held at the end of the week.
Discuss:
What went well
What didn't go well
What are people looking forward to
Project Launch Process
Project Manager Lead: Before launching a project, a designated person (project manager, sales team representative, etc) meets with all relevant parties (sales, marketing, etc).
Information Sharing: The project manager provides a document with the launch details, FAQs, video demos, and other assets, in one place (e.g., a Notion doc).
Launch Date: With a shared understanding the team can decide on a launch date and celebrate the achievement!
Cool Down Period
Refactoring and Bug Fixes: The two weeks between build cycles is for addressing bugs and refactoring existing code.
Non-Urgent Tech Debt: This period allows engineers to work on tasks that are important but not urgent.
Other Helpful Elements in Notion
Engineering Wiki: A knowledge base with explanations of common tasks and processes to onboard new developers faster, and reducing hand-holding.
Report Tracker: A central location to keep track of the status and updates of bug reports, keeping track of progress.
Design Tracker: Track design progress and revisions using a Kanban board. Include screenshots of competitors and inspirations for consistent designs.
Daily Check-ins: Using a Slack workflow to remind people to provide quick updates on what they are working on and avoiding unnecessary distractions, fostering a consistent and transparent work environment.
Meeting Schedule: A central location to schedule meetings, retro and daily check-ins to keep everyone in sync.
Conclusion
This Notion-based Shape Up approach is designed to simplify product development, reduce chaos, and increase team efficiency. By focusing on problem-first thinking, time-boxing, and clear communication, you can deliver innovative features faster and with more clarity. Implementing this method will take some effort and adjustments, but the long-term benefits in terms of productivity, transparency, and team morale are invaluable.
Next Steps
Read the book "Shape Up" by Ryan Singer to understand the methodology more deeply.
Adapt the Notion templates and processes shared to fit your specific needs.
Start implementing the system with a small team and refine your approach as you go.
By making these changes in your process, you're going to start seeing real change and more happy team members.