### Overview As Gitlab grows, we need to make sure the [Product Development Flow](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product-development-flow/) supports our Stage groups such that we deliver the most value possible to customers, efficiently. Product teams that successfully drive value at scale focus on outcomes (metrics & measurement focus), rather than outputs (process checklists), by leveraging philosophies/frameworks (such as Agile or Lean) as a means to deliver on customer needs (value) in tandem with achieving internal business needs. The product development flow does not support our values of [Collaboration](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/values/#collaboration) and [Efficiency](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/values/#efficiency) as well as it should. Our Q2 2020 survey revealed that the product development flow: 1) Doesn’t Encourage Cross-Functional Collaboration 2) Has too Many Steps 3) Is too Prescriptive ### Problems to solve - How can we promote optimal cross-functional involvement in the product development flow? - How can we ensure tracks and phases don’t silo activities and continually encourage cross-functional contribution #everyonecancontribute? - How can we reduce the number of “required” steps in the product development flow without losing key steps needed for convergence points? - How can we better enable teams to work efficiently by providing the right amount of details in tandem with opportunity for personalization for their specific needs? - How can we reduce verbosity in the product development flow? - How do we better focus teams on delivering value by enabling them to strike their own balance between when to build new features and when to improve existing features? ### Proposal: To support Gitlab product teams in building/delivering measurable value (e.g. designing features to improve specific KPIs), we need to establish a product development framework that can be personalized by product teams without lowering velocity or losing transparency in tracking, thus having a healthy balance between outcomes and outputs. This means providing plentiful and effective tactics for product teams to choose from to design/flow in a process that works for them, within a specific framework for guide rails. In tandem, it means identifying only the most critical processes that ensure successful delivery for the business as 'non-negotiable', so that it is meaningful, focused and manageable. Iterate on the product development flow to create to create a robust and flexible framework providing teams with: 1) **Various strategies/tactics** teams can employ at each phase to identity what to build to solve a problem 2) **Required processes** teams need to follow at each phase to maintain efficient, transparent and predictable workflow cross-functionally. ## Intended users Gitlab internal team members: - product managers - UX/product designers - UX researchers - Technical writers - Testing engineers - Software engineers