Community project proposal (to help get companies started with Shape Up)

It would be fantastic for the community here to adopt this idea and develop and ship some version of this product. See the super rough pitch below: Happy to add a breadboard or sketches below if there is interest

> Company-wide Shape Up Calendar Clock

A time timer like-UI that visualizes synchronized cycles across the entire company on the shape up cadence.

WE BELIEVE an easy-to-access company-wide progress bar showing when in and out-of-cycle moments begin and end

FOR organizations looking to adopt shape up or already running the process

WILL RESULT IN a clearer sense of when things start and end and give a sense of connectedness to these important dates.

WE WILL KNOW WE HAVE SUCCEEDED WHEN we see the web app tab both remaining open and uniquely viewed at least once per week per user per company. Also, when we see projects being added to the tool cycle of cycle.

> Context-Problem Conditions

It is hard to ensure everyone at the company has visibility into when and what projects are being shipped in the current cycle and how much time is left until we can prioritize new things next. There is no visceral heartbeat, a feeling of the cadence pumping blood into the organization, that acts as the central operating rhythm for shipping and prioritizing. This causes a lot of anxiety for those looking to implement shape up and those wanting it to succeed.

> Time and Capacity Budget

I think spending six weeks on this project with two developers and one designer is worth it.

> Proposed Approach

A fat and thick giant time timer like progress bar that shows how much time is left, with dates should more granularity be needed. A list of project names, with hyperlink capability, can be added into the current cycle and then, as a user, e.g., hovers over the words, each at a time is displayed in the time timer like bar graph to show if it is a small, medium, or large batch project.

For now, a standard 6 week cycle cadence and a 1 week ramp up period are the default.

A user can pick when these cycles start, and the calendar math returns the amount of cycles left in the year.

> No Gos

  • Altering cycle lengths

  • Accounting for holidays

  • Integrations with Jira, etc.

  • Adding what is being shaped (what possibility might come next) in parallel to what is being built now to visualize planning cadence work

> Rabbit Holes

Open issues and general discussion area:

> Customer Quote

"This tool is so simple and amazing. Everyone feels like the company has a heartbeat now. There is a sense of predictability (feel and see the circuit breaker), responsibility, and tolerance for shape up now.”

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I like the idea of building software tooling and I am available for prototyping & building.

However, I am not sure, if this is the most urgent need. Did you conduct JTBD interviews?

Cool. No, I didn’t. But I’ve been successfully and unsuccessfully implementing shape up for the past six years at various different kinds of companies. I have a pretty strong empathetic connection to knowing how to scratch my own itch here.

I’m happy to set up a call and we can jam on the idea and trade stories and discuss why this might be a powerful tool.

Sure! I messaged you on LinkedIn.

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