Shape-Up

What is Shape Up?

Shape Up is a time-boxed development method created by Basecamp to help teams ship meaningful work defined in cycles.

It moves away from backlogs, detailed agile rituals, and sprint micromanagement. Instead, it empowers small teams to own problems end-to-end, framed with clear boundaries and time constraints.

Core Process Overview

Shape Up works in 6 weeks build cycles, preceded by Shaping, followed by a 2 week cooldown.

Phase 1: Shaping

Define a shaped project that’s ready to explore/build.

1. Define the appetite (~6 weeks)
2. Sketch the solution
   • Breadboard flows, fat marker wireframes
   • Don’t design screen yet, just clarify user interactions and system boundaries.
3. Clarify Scope and Risks
   • Identify rabbit holes (complex or risky areas)
   • Define no-gos (what’s explicitly out of scope)
4. Write the pitch
   • Include problem, appetite, solution, sketch, rabbit holes, no-gos
   • Should be clear and simple (1-2 pages)

Phase 2: Betting

Decide which pitches to commit to for the next build cycle.

1. Evaluate pitch is evaluated on:
   • Relevance to business goal e.g corporate score card
   • Appetite vs impact
   • Team availability

Phase 3: Building

Ship a complete, working solution in the allotted time. No stretch deadlines.

Full autonomy:

• Team self-manage their work within the shaped boundaries
• No micro-sprints, no daily stand-up mandated.

Hill chart:

• Visual tool showing what’s figured out vs what’s still unclear
• Uphill = figuring things out; Downhill = executing known tasks.

Scope hammering:

• If it doesn’t fit, cut scope, never extend the deadline.
• Deliver the core value first.

Definition of Done:

It works. It’s shipped, Not just code complete.

FAQ

What if they don’t finish in 6 weeks?

By default, the project doesn’t get an extension. It means we did something wrong in the shaping. Instead of investing more time in a bad approach, reframe the problem and use new shaping track on the next 6 weeks to come up with a new or better solution to avoid fallen into the rabbit role.

If the teams aren’t interrupted in the 6 weeks cycle, how do we handle bugs that come up?

Only crises can justify to drop everything to fix that bug. Otherwise either use a cool-down cycle, bring it to the betting table or schedule a bug smash activity.

What about projects that just can’t be done in 1 cycle?

Shaping a specific 6 week target, with something fully working. Then decide if it is worth for another next 6 weeks. New product typically need 3 phases of work, each phase unfold over multiple cycles, but we still only bet 1 cycle at a time.

After betting phase, how does the team start building?

Leaders don’t assign tasks to anybody. Nobody plays the role as “taskmaster” or “architect”. Instead, trust the team to take on the entire project and work within the boundaries of the pitch. The team will have full autonomy and use their judgement to execute the pitch.

How do I know inter-dependencies when the Scope mapping phase so late?

You won’t know what the actual work and inter-dependencies actually in advance. The scopes need to be discovered by doing the real work (integrate one slice) and see how things connect and don’t connect. At the end of 1-2 weeks (span of 6 weeks), the team will able to find the natural dividing lines in the anatomy of the problem.

How to know if the scopes are right?

Three signs indicate:

1. You feel like you can see the whole project and nothing important that worries you is hidden down in the details.
2. Conversations about the project become more flowing because the scope give you the right language.
3. When new tasks come up, you know where to put them. The scopes act like buckets that you can easily lobs new tasks into.

How do we decide when to extend a project?

• Outstanding tasks must be true must-haves
• The work must be all downhill, meaning no unsolved mystery or open questions.

Characteristics of Shape Up

• Project run typically 6-8 weeks end-to-end
• Organise scope by structure, not person. Create a scope of categories small enough to be completed independently
• Typically small team, 1 designer, 1-2 programmers, nobody interrupt them in the building track

References

• Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters
• Shape Up
• https://whimsical.com/shape-up-9voesMsbJFMRuWdXHWYMa2