In the world of agile product management, it's crucial to break down large, complex projects into smaller, more manageable pieces. This process, known as decomposition, helps teams focus on delivering value incrementally and adapting to change more easily. This article, describes three decomposition practices for your agile product management practices.
SASHIMI
One effective decomposition practice is "sashimi," which involves slicing user stories into the smallest possible pieces that still deliver value. This allows teams to prioritize and deliver the most important features first, rather than getting bogged down in unimportant details.
Sashimi, also known as vertical slicing, is an agile product management practice that involves breaking down a product feature into the smallest possible increments. The goal of sashimi is to deliver value to customers as quickly as possible by releasing smaller, more frequent updates rather than waiting to release larger updates infrequently.
The practice of sashimi can be traced back to the origins of agile software development, which emphasizes the importance of delivering working software to customers as quickly as possible. The idea behind sashimi is that by breaking down features into smaller increments, it is easier to identify and resolve any issues that may arise during the development process. This allows teams to iterate and improve upon their product more efficiently, rather than waiting until the end of a project to make changes.
There are several reasons why a team may choose to use sashimi as part of their product development process. For one, it allows teams to gather feedback from customers more quickly, which can help them make informed decisions about the direction of their product. Additionally, sashimi helps teams to stay focused on the most important features and prioritize their work accordingly, rather than getting bogged down in smaller details that may not add much value to the product.
One of the key benefits of the Sashimi Method is that it allows for a more flexible and iterative approach to product development. By working with the client to define and deliver small slices of functionality, teams can better understand and respond to the client's needs and preferences. This can help prevent the waste of building unnecessary features or functionality that the client may not want or need.
Additionally, the Sashimi Method emphasizes the importance of continuous refactoring and design emergence in order to achieve uniform quality throughout the product. This means that teams should constantly be reviewing and improving the design and structure of their code, rather than waiting until the end of the development process to address any issues.
Overall, the Sashimi Method is a valuable tool for agile product management, helping teams to deliver value to their clients in a flexible and iterative manner. By focusing on small, incremental deliveries and continuous improvement, teams can better understand and respond to the needs of their clients, leading to more successful and satisfying product development outcomes.
To apply sashimi in their product development process, teams may use techniques such as user stories, acceptance criteria, and user journey mapping to define and break down their product features into smaller increments. These increments, known as "slices," are then prioritized and released to customers on a regular basis.
For example, let's say a team is working on developing a new feature for their e-commerce platform that allows customers to browse and purchase products from their mobile device. Using sashimi, the team may break down this feature into several smaller slices, such as:
Slicing 1: Allow customers to browse products on their mobile device
Slicing 2: Allow customers to add products to their cart on their mobile device
Slicing 3: Allow customers to check out and purchase products on their mobile device
Each of these slices can then be released to customers separately, allowing the team to gather feedback and make any necessary improvements before moving on to the next slice.
As agile coach Todd Kromann explains, "Sashimi helps teams stay focused on delivering value to customers as quickly as possible. By breaking down features into smaller increments, it's easier to identify and resolve any issues that may arise during the development process. This allows teams to iterate and improve upon their product more efficiently."
Overall, sashimi is a powerful agile product management practice that helps teams deliver value to customers quickly and efficiently by breaking down features into smaller increments and releasing them on a regular basis. By prioritizing the most important features and gathering feedback from customers along the way, teams can iterate and improve upon their product more effectively, ultimately leading to better outcomes and customer satisfaction.
EPIC SLICING
Another useful practice is "epic slicing," which involves breaking down large epics (broad, high-level user stories) into smaller stories that can be tackled more efficiently. This helps teams focus on delivering value in smaller increments, rather than trying to complete a massive project all at once. This practice allows teams to prioritize and deliver value to customers faster, rather than trying to tackle everything at once.
The concept of epic slicing can be traced back to the principles of lean manufacturing, which emphasizes the importance of breaking down large processes into smaller steps in order to increase efficiency and reduce waste. In the context of agile product development, epic slicing involves identifying the core value or objective of a feature, and breaking it down into smaller chunks that can be delivered incrementally to customers.
In it's simplest form, it's exactly like it sounds, taking an epic story and breaking it down into it's components. I've had this done much like storyboarding for comics. with wall posters of illustrations of the smaller, detailed stories of an epic.
There are several reasons why epic slicing is an effective tool for agile product management. First, it allows teams to focus on delivering value to customers as quickly as possible, rather than getting bogged down in long, complex development cycles. This not only helps teams stay motivated and engaged, but it also allows them to gather valuable feedback from customers early on in the development process, which can be used to refine and improve the product.
In addition, epic slicing helps teams prioritize and prioritize their work, ensuring that they are working on the most valuable and impactful features first. This helps teams avoid wasting time and resources on lower priority work, and helps ensure that they are delivering the greatest possible value to customers.
To apply epic slicing in practice, teams can follow these steps:
Identify the core value or objective of the feature: What is the most important aspect of this feature? What problem does it solve for customers?
Break the feature down into smaller chunks: How can the feature be divided into smaller, more manageable pieces? What are the key steps or sub-features that need to be completed in order to deliver value to customers?
Prioritize the chunks: Which pieces of the feature are most valuable or impactful to customers? Which can be delivered first, and which can wait?
Create a roadmap: Using the chunks identified in step 2, create a roadmap that outlines the steps needed to deliver the feature to customers. This can include identifying dependencies, assigning tasks to team members, and establishing milestones.
Here are a few examples of how epic slicing can be applied in practice:
A team is working on a new feature for a customer relationship management (CRM) tool. The feature is designed to help sales teams track and manage their customer interactions. To apply epic slicing, the team might break the feature down into smaller chunks, such as:
Allow sales reps to log interactions with customers, including phone calls, emails, and meetings.
Allow sales reps to schedule and manage follow-up tasks related to customer interactions.
Integrate with the company's email and calendar systems to automatically capture and track customer interactions.
A team is working on a new feature for a project management tool. The feature is designed to help teams track and manage their project schedules. To apply epic slicing, the team might break the feature down into smaller chunks, such as:
Allow team members to create and assign tasks to each other.
Allow team members to set deadlines and dependencies for tasks.
Integrate with the company's calendar system to automatically track task progress and deadlines.
"Epic slicing is a powerful tool for agile product development because it helps teams deliver value to customers faster and more efficiently. By breaking down large, complex features into smaller chunks, teams can stay focused and motivated, and ensure that they are delivering the greatest possible value to customers." - Todd Kromann, Agile Coach and Founder of Open Agile Solutions
As renowned agile coach and consultant Mike Cohn writes in his book "User Stories Applied": "Smaller user stories are easier to understand, easier to estimate, and easier to work on than larger ones. As a result, smaller stories result in faster delivery of value."
MVP Identification
Lastly, "MVP identification" involves identifying the minimum viable product – the bare minimum set of features that will still provide value to users. This helps teams prioritize and deliver the most important features first, rather than getting caught up in unnecessary bells and whistles.
Minimal Viable Product, or MVP, is a term that is commonly used in the field of product development. It refers to the minimum set of features or functionality that a product should have in order to be viable, or able to be used and successful.
One way to think about MVP is to imagine that you are creating a new kind of toy. You want to make sure that the toy is fun and interesting for kids, but you also don't want to spend a lot of money on it until you know for sure that it will be a hit.
One way to approach this problem is to create a "MVP" version of the toy. This might include just the most basic features and functionality, such as the ability to move and make noise.
This MVP version of the toy can then be tested with a small group of kids to see if they like it. If they do, then you can continue to add more features and functionality to the toy, such as different sounds or lights, to make it even more fun and engaging.
Another example of MVP might be a new app that you are developing. You might start by creating a basic version of the app that includes just the most essential features and functionality. This MVP version of the app can then be tested with a small group of users to see if they like it. If they do, then you can continue to add more features and functionality to the app, such as new tools or options, to make it even more useful and popular.
MVP, or Minimum Viable Product, is a product development technique that involves building a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and gather valuable feedback for future development. The goal of an MVP is to quickly test and validate a product idea, without investing a lot of time and resources into building out a full product.
Here are a few examples of MVPs:
A smartphone app that allows users to track their fitness goals and share them with friends, but only includes basic features like logging workouts and setting goals.
A website that allows users to search for and book vacation rentals, but only includes a few properties and basic search functionality.
A kitchen gadget that chops and dices vegetables, but only includes one blade and a manual crank.
According to Eric Ries, author of "The Lean Startup," an MVP should be "that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort." In other words, an MVP is a way to quickly test and validate a product idea, without building out a full product.
Steve Blank, author of "The Four Steps to the Epiphany," also emphasizes the importance of MVPs in the product development process. He suggests that startups should "get out of the building" and talk to potential customers as early as possible, even if they don't have a fully-fledged product to show them. By collecting feedback from potential customers, startups can iterate and improve their MVPs, eventually building a product that meets the needs of their target market.
Overall, the goal of MVP is to create a product that is simple, yet effective, and can be tested and refined over time as needed. This approach allows you to minimize risk and maximize success by focusing on the most important features and functionality first, and then building on that foundation as you learn more about what users want and need. So, MVP helps you create a product that is more likely to be successful and meet the needs of your customers.
By implementing decomposition practices like sashimi, epic slicing, and MVP identification, agile product management teams can stay focused, deliver value faster, and adapt to change more easily. Try incorporating these techniques into your workflow to see how they can improve your team's efficiency and effectiveness.
Comments