This process is concerned with how we take a pool of ideas, analyse them and then divide them into a set of JIRA issues that will form the start of the development process to take them to implementation. It involves the filtering of the pool based on some measure or intuition of realism and the breakdown of what's left into clearly defined tasks.
We assume that there are ideas being generated, but from time to time, it may be helpful to formalise the search for new ideas. This is discussed separately here.
Evaluating New Ideas
There are many ideas that will be conceived by individuals outside of any official call or process. These should be collected and not forgotten and the place they should go is here: Road Map Ideas.
Ideas Call (monthly)
New ideas from the Road Map Ideas document and other ideas are discussed and evaluated in this monthly call. This is a chance for brainstorming and without being too prescriptive, we will broadly follow the Six Hats of Critical Thinking methods to assess ideas. Six Hats encourages looking at possible ideas from different angles, represented by a hat colour.
White hat
We start by sharing the information about the idea.
- What is the available information?
- What facts do we have?
Yellow hat
We think optimistically about the idea, highlighting the advantages and benefits of solving it.
- What are the benefits?
- Why is it workable?
Black hat
We then think cautiously to identify the drawbacks of the idea.
- What are the risks?
- Why is the idea not workable?
Red hat
We then consider our gut reaction towards the idea without attempting to understand the reason behind the feeling.
- What is your hunch about the idea?
- What do you like/dislike/love/hate about it?
Green hat
Here we consider possibilities, alternatives and new ideas, donning the hats above as necessary.
Blue hat
This hat comes into play as and when needed as a control and moderation mechanism to manage the thinking process.
Conclusion
The end result of this call should be ideas that we intend to take forward and actions on individuals to take specific ideas to break down into JIRA epics and issues.