Feature Brief

Document the requirements of a new feature, project or initiative in a collaborative space.

Steps
19
Last edited
Mar 22, 2022
Created by
Nova

About this process

Feature briefs document the requirements of new features or projects. Having identified an initiative on the roadmap, the department or team leader should create a feature brief to describe why the feature is needed, who it is intended for, and how it should generally function. Includes things like: Proposed Solution & Value Proposition. Customer / User Persona. Competitive / Considered Solutions. User story. Success criteria. Scope. Rules and more. This template can be transform into a document.

The process in detail

19 steps
  1. 1

    Overview.

  2. 2

    Problem or Opportunity.

  3. 3

    Leadership + Stakeholders.

  4. 4

    Justification. (Why?)

  5. 5

    Objective.

  6. 6

    Competitive / Alternative Solutions.

  7. 7

    Persona.

  8. 8

    User story + Acceptance criteria

  9. 9

    System / Performance Requirements.

  10. 10

    Key constraints.

  11. 11

    Assumptions: What should we analyze further?

  12. 12

    Metrics.

  13. 13

    Data & Analytics.

  14. 14

    Initial Scope.

  15. 15

    Milestones and deliverables.

  16. 16

    Values.

  17. 17

    Team rituals

  18. 18

    Rules and Escalation.

  19. 19

    Additional notes.

Read the full text
1. Overview.

😎 Describe the initiative or feature.

Proposed Solution & Value Proposition. Describe the solution or feature at a high level. Focus more on how the solution will solve the problem or how the user will benefit rather than how features will specifically look or work.

Write a note
2. Problem or Opportunity.

What pain points is this initiative trying to solve for or what market gaps have been identified? Include specific qualitative and quantitative data that validates this information or identify the key assumptions that must be proved as part of the project.

Write a note
3. Leadership + Stakeholders.
•Who is leading this initiative? (Leader/s)
•Would you need to contact any experts? (1 or more)
•Stakeholders: Who are the initiative/feature stakeholders? What are their main priorities and what do they need to deliver?
Write a note
4. Justification. (Why?)
•What problem is being solved by the initiative/project/idea? What are the benefits of implementing the project: customers, employees, stakeholders? Why is this project needed now?
•Reframe the problem and define the benefits.
Write a note
5. Objective.

Define the objective and the desired outcome.

Write a note
6. Competitive / Alternative Solutions.

Are there any competitive solutions in market to reference? How should this solution be different from what exists already? Were other solutions previously considered? Why were those ideas rejected?

Write a note
7. Persona.

Customer / User Persona. Indicate who will benefit from this solution. Is it your customer? Your employees? Is it a specific segment of users from within a larger group? Market size.

Write a note
8. User story + Acceptance criteria

Add one user story (+ acceptance criteria) per sticky note:

•User story: As a [type of user], I want to [perform some task] so that I can [achieve some goal].
•Acceptance criteria: Given [some context] when [some action is carried out] then [a set of observable outcomes should occur].

Now let's try to define some timelines and priorities. We will be using 🙂 emojis to do that.

•Priority: 🔴 Critical, 🟣 High, 🟡 Medium or 🔵 Low
•Estimate: 🙏 A day or less, 🔥 A few days or less, 🙂 A week, 👀 15 days or less, ✔1 month or more.
Add sticky notes
9. System / Performance Requirements.

Describe key performance criteria here. For example: page must load in less than 2 seconds.

Write a note
10. Key constraints.

What will influence decisions and possibilities to be closely considered in planning this initiative? Timeline, relationships, budget, governance, etc.

Write a note
11. Assumptions: What should we analyze further?

Do we need to do gather additional information? Do we need to analyze and test some of our assumptions?

Write a note
12. Metrics.
•How do you measure success? KPIs?
•How will impact be evaluated? What methods will be used?
•Define a success criteria. (This can be provided as a check list with percentages)
Write a note
13. Data & Analytics.

What type of information will help you achieve your objectives and reach your desired outcome? Add key highlight here and provide a list of links and resources.

Write a note
14. Initial Scope.

How would the project be structured? Are they any key milestones? Are we launching a beta version?

•✅ Must-have list
•📅 Provide dates.
Write a note
15. Milestones and deliverables.
Work on the whiteboardMilestones & Deliverables
16. Values.

Values.

•What values will guide the teaming and decision making process?How would suggestions to add changes be evaluates?What are the project's priorities?
•Are all stakeholder's priorities and values aligned for the project?
Write a note
17. Team rituals

What artifacts are created from the initiative/project that helps reinforce the project's goals? Celebrate its success? Support continual learning and growth?

If you are trying to define your rituals add an additional session and use the Team rituals tool. 👈

Write a note
18. Rules and Escalation.

Rules: Ground rules are typically discussed and agreed to early during the formation of a team. Here are a few rules:

•Members will alert the group to any task or project that will be early, late, better or worse that expected.
•Conflict will address ideas rather than personalities.
•Silence of members will be assumed to signal agreement.
•Virtual video meetings will be limited to one hour.
•Everyone has 30 hours to respond to a slack or teams message.
•If [this] then [that]

Escalation: Who? When? How?

Write a note
19. Additional notes.
Write a note
Initiative canvas
  • Initiative Canvas
  • Overview
  • Acceptance criteria Given [some context] when [some action is carried out] then [a set of observable outcomes should occur].
  • User story As a [type of user], I want to [perform some task] so that I can [achieve some goal].
  • Objective What is the objective?Desired outcomes.
  • Justification What problem is being solved by the project/initiative/idea?
  • Start typing...
  • Leadership
  • Who is leading this initiative?
  • Priority
  • Subject matter expertise?
  • Estimate
  • Assumptions
  • Stakeholders Who are the project/initiative stakeholders? What are their priorities?
  • Metrics How do we measure success? [Success criteria]
  • Values What values will guide the teaming and decision making process?
  • Team rituals and celebrations How do you celebrate success?When?
  • Key constraints What will influence decisions and possibilities and needs to be closely considered in planning this initiative?
  • Scope How will the project be structured? Are they any milestones or versions?
  • Data & Analytics
  • Can influence
  • Information will help you achieve your objective
  • Must-Have
  • Beyond scope of control
  • Link to resources
  • Nice-Have
  • Parking Lot: Opportunities/Asides/etc [Recommendation: Keep this organized by adding 1 or 2]
Milestones & Deliverables
  • Roadmap: Milestones & Deliverables
  • Problem framing & Research
  • Launch team
  • Kick off
  • Implementation
  • Retro & Celebration
  • Ideation
  • Experiments & Testing
  • Prototyping & Feedback
  • TEAM NAME
  • TEAM NAME
  • MILESTONE: DATE
  • MILESTONE: DATE
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Fully editableAdapts as work changesAdd more sessions anytimeAI can be assigned
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Created byNova·Official process
Last edited Mar 22, 2022·19 steps