Set up / Organize Ideas

dragonboat is structured around Ideas, which maps to features, solutions, or projects similar to a Jira EPIC or a Github milestone.  An Initiative is just a big Idea, usually maps to a program, a product EPIC (in SAFe model).  

A basic hierarchy in dragonboat

Roadmap (>> Master EPICs) >> Initiatives >> Ideas

• For a product organization, a Roadmap often refers to a product area, where Master EPIC refers to sub-area of the product. 
• For a service organization, a Roadmap may map to a Client or a segment of clients
• For an IT portfolio, a Roadmap may map to the source of Ideas, e.g. a Business Unit, Tech Roadmap
• For a transformation effort, a Roadmap may map to a work stream. 

Other Portfolio dimensions

(aka Idea meta data. Optional to use, and the title may be customized  for your organization's vocabulary)

Ideas can be organized in multiple ways. The ability to see these other dimensions allows better prioritization and communication. The following are the "meta data" for Ideas.  

• Objective (also known as Goal, OKR) - it may have 2 levels for larger organizations

• Timeframe - can be Target quarter or Release or Product Increment, or fuzzy time as This Month, This Quarter, Next Quarter. 

• Theme - may be used for product theme or strategic themes (across multiple roadmaps)

• Category is another way to group your ideas. Some may use it to illustrate the User Journey, investment category/ horizon, e.g. core, adjacent, new investment. 

Once you complete the mapping, you may see your ideas as the following:

Or like this

Below is the data structure of dragonboat (Standard Plan) that's best for smaller product organizations with a head of product and a few product managers.

 

When you import Ideas, you may map the source data with how you'd organize your ideas.  You may update, merge or delete values in the Settings page. (Here is how to manage your meta data)

Below is the data structure of dragonboat (Enterprise and Enterprise + Plan)

- for larger organizations with multiple layers of reporting within product organizations

Additional hierarchy is enabled for the Enterprise Plan

1. Master EPIC is an additional hierarchical level between Roadmap and Ideas. This is known as Program in the SAFe Framework, or Initiative in Jira Portfolio. An idea in the same roadmap may or may not have a master EPIC. 

2. Key Results is additional hierarchical level between Objectives and Ideas.  If your organization uses Overall OKR and Team OKR, you may rename Key Results to Team OKR or Team Goals. You may also leverage the Note field to provide reference link or progress updates for the OKR itself. Similar to Master EPIC, an Idea in the same Objective may or may not have a KR. 

3. Bets and Initiatives: (for enterprise + plan only) are bigger, more complex ideas. The analogy is, if epic is a bigger story; then Initiative is a bigger idea, where a Bet has multiple initiatives. 

Tip: Introducing new level adds some UX complexity. We recommend performing a short pilot to test out the approach before full roll out. 

Questions? Reach us directly via Help or join our Slack community.