Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters

By Ryan Singer

Read December 2020

Who is this book for?

The book is written to those whose job it is to translate raw ideas into work that an engineer and a designer would solve together. As an example of this, Ryan Singer calls himself a “product strategist.” In my experience, those that perform this function would likely be product managers but could also include a design manager or a lead designer.

My review

5/5 stars, highly recommend

It’s a quick read

What topics does the book cover?

• How to set up work in the sweet spot between too abstract and too concrete to allow your team to solve the problem successfully (and avoid either getting caught in a rabbit hole or simply implementing someone else’s solution).
• A lightweight way to quickly commit to a roadmap (without the endless maintenance of a backlog).
• A way to map scope and track progress after handoff (and how to handle scope creep and missed deadlines).

Part 1: Shaping

• When product managers shape work, it is frequently either too abstract or too concrete for the team to find useful. It’s important to find the right level of abstraction.

• Words are too abstract.

• Mock-ups are too concrete.

• Shaped work is

  •  1) rough: everyone can tell by looking at it that it’s unfinished.

  •  2) solved: all the main elements of the macro solution are there and they work together. All open questions and rabbit holes have been removed.

  •  3) bounded: determines the appetite for the solution: how much time do we want to spend on this. Determines what is NOT in scope. Typically either small-batch (1 or 2 weeks) or large batch (6-weeks, nothing larger than that).

Shaping Methods

• Instead of user stories or mockups (I’ve never met a designer who enjoyed receiving either of those), consider the following methods:
• Breadboarding - using a shorthand notation style, you can use an underlined word to indicate a place in the interface, such as -Invoice-. Underneath, list out all the actions you can take from it, and add the new action you’re considering. Where does that button take you when you press it? Draw an arrow to a new location. This allows you to think about where the solution will go, the affordances and how they connect. You can quickly map out whole flows and experiment to see which feels right.