Triad in Continuous Product Discovery

Symptoms of Product Discovery phase issues

These problems often arise during Backlog refinement:

• Developers ask many questions that are not answered by Product Owners.
• Developers argue with each other for a long time.
• Developers cannot quickly estimate the complexity and time required to complete a task.
• Numerous spikes are created to clarify technical details before starting to develop the functionality in the sprint.
• Story point estimates vary significantly between developers.

These difficulties are not unique and often indicate that the description of new functionality is not sufficiently developed before it is presented to the team.

If the team is forced to evaluate and take on such tasks, it will lead to:

• Tasks will take significantly longer to develop than expected.
• Testing will reveal many cases that were not thought out and will require significant rework.
• New features will integrate poorly with existing ones, creating inconveniences for users.
• Developers will increasingly complain about technical debt that complicates further development.

Definition of Ready

Most people are familiar with the Definition of Done — a set of requirements for developers that indicates when a task is considered complete. However, there is another equally important list that indicates whether a task is ready for the team to work on.

The Definition of Ready is a set of criteria that a task must meet before it can be taken into work. This helps the team ensure that the task is well-understood, contains all necessary details, and the developers are ready to work on it without obstacles.

This information should be provided by the Functional Specification document, created by the "Triad" during Continuous Product Discovery.

Triad in Continuous Product Discovery

We are all used to Scrum practices, such as Backlog refinement, but few people on the team are interested in how tasks even make it to the backlog.

Continuous Product Discovery is an ongoing process of researching user needs, testing hypotheses, and gathering feedback to improve the product. The goal of this process is to ensure a constant flow of new ideas that meet real user and business needs, allowing the product to evolve with market changes.

This huge and continuous effort is carried out by the "Triad," which typically consists of a product manager, a designer, and a technical specialist.

They are responsible for preparing and filling in the Stories for the backlog, creating the following artifacts:

• User Flow: A visual or textual representation of the steps a user takes to complete a task in the application.
• Use Case: A detailed description of how a user interacts with the system to achieve a goal, often including primary and alternative scenarios.
• Feature Design: A visual or functional representation of how the new feature will look and work. This includes wireframes, prototypes, interface (UI) details, and a description of user interactions with new elements.
• Technical Design: A document or diagram describing the architecture and technical aspects of implementing the feature. This includes the database structure, module interactions, algorithms, APIs, and other technical details.

Only after this do they prepare the Stories that will be proposed to the team.

In large projects, several "Triads" may work, each describing new functionality for different parts of the application.

The most common mistake: excluding the Tech Lead from the Triad

Many companies and teams mistakenly exclude the Tech Lead from the "Triad" discussions. Firstly, they believe that the initial discussions concern only business requirements and design, and technical aspects can be addressed later. Secondly, there is a false assumption that technical implementation is solely the execution stage after business and design decisions are made.

"Can’t we discuss the technical details later during Backlog refinement?" — No, by then it’s too late.

The Tech Lead is important to:

• Break down a large Epic into independent Stories that can be worked on in parallel by different developers.
• Evaluate the idea for technological feasibility.
• Provide preliminary estimates for implementation time.
• Identify infrastructure changes in the existing code that may facilitate the development and maintenance of the functionality.
• Identify technical risks and suggest strategies to mitigate them.
• Assess the potential vulnerabilities of the new feature and determine security measures.

Most importantly, the Tech Lead can help the team during the sprint by quickly resolving unexpected technical challenges.

Summary

• Ensure a clear stage of Continuous Product Discovery.
• Define who is part of each "Triad."
• Include a Technical Lead or Principal Software Engineer in each "Triad."
• Prepare, store, and distribute artifacts: User Flow, Use Case, Wireframes, UI/UX mockups, Technical Design, Epic Gantt Chart.
• Allocate time for the Technical Lead to mentor, teach, and assist the team during the sprint.

Where to learn more

Inspired: How to Create Products Customers Love — Marty Cagan In this book, the author details the "Triad" — a team consisting of a product manager, designer, and technical expert responsible for product creation. It focuses on the significance of each role and the importance of the continuous product discovery process.

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