1  Framework

Perfect — thanks, Philipp. Based on your context (lean but autonomous B2B SaaS product team, moderate maturity, good health), here’s a comprehensive, pragmatic, low-overhead framework set, prioritized by Must, Should, and Could.

The goal is to give you structured clarity without bureaucracy — strong enough for consistency and decision quality, but light enough to preserve speed and autonomy.

1.1 🧭 PRODUCT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

1.1.1 MUST

These form your foundation for alignment, strategy clarity, and outcome-driven work.

1.1.1.1 1. Product Strategy → OKR Cascade

  • What: Define a one-page Product Strategy Canvas: problem space, target users, key differentiators, measurable outcomes.
  • How: Translate this into quarterly OKRs (1–2 objectives, 3–4 measurable key results) aligned to company goals.
  • Why: Keeps the team focused on outcomes instead of features; gives you a shared north star.

1.1.1.2 2. Dual-Track Discovery & Delivery

  • What: Run parallel discovery and delivery streams (per Teresa Torres / Marty Cagan).
  • Discovery track: problem framing, idea validation, prototype testing.
  • Delivery track: sprinting on validated solutions.
  • Why: Prevents building unvalidated ideas and ensures you’re continuously learning.
  • How Lean: Limit WIP — one discovery thread per quarter unless urgent.

1.1.1.3 3. Opportunity Solution Tree (OST)

  • What: Visual framework linking your OKRs → customer opportunities → potential solutions → experiments.
  • Why: Keeps prioritization focused on outcomes and evidence rather than opinions.
  • Tool: Miro or FigJam works well.

1.1.1.4 4. Quant + Qual Feedback Loop

  • What:

    • Quant: product analytics dashboard with key usage and conversion metrics.
    • Qual: structured customer feedback sessions or support data review biweekly.

  • Why: Anchors your discovery and prioritization in evidence, not anecdotes.

1.1.1.5 5. Lean Prioritization (RICE or ICE)

  • What: Score ideas by Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort.
  • Why: Simple, transparent, defensible. Works well in WiseTech’s data-driven culture.
  • How: Use in roadmap discussions or sprint planning prep.

1.1.2 SHOULD

These mature your practices and reduce risk as the product scales.

1.1.2.1 6. North Star Metric Framework

  • What: Define a single metric that best captures long-term customer value creation.
  • Why: Keeps team alignment beyond feature delivery.
  • Example: “Active monthly users completing key workflows” instead of “# of releases.”

1.1.2.2 7. Customer Problem Framing Workshops

  • What: Regular 1-hour cross-functional sessions to re-validate top 3 customer problems.
  • Why: Keeps context fresh, promotes empathy, and prevents solution bias.

1.1.2.3 8. Hypothesis-Driven Validation

  • What: Every discovery or roadmap item framed as:

    “We believe [customer] has [problem]. If we do [solution], we’ll see [impact].”

  • Why: Promotes measurable, falsifiable thinking.

  • How: Bake this into your PRD / lean spec template.

1.1.2.4 9. Rolling 12-Month Roadmap (Now / Next / Later)

  • What: Maintain a visual roadmap that expresses intent (themes, not commitments).
  • Why: Communicates direction and tradeoffs without overpromising.
  • Cadence: Refresh quarterly with OKR cycles.

1.1.3 COULD

Use selectively once the team matures or if you need additional structure.

1.1.3.1 10. Outcome-Based Product Backlog

  • Replace “features” with “problems to solve” in backlog categories.
  • Makes sprint planning outcome-oriented, not task-oriented.

1.1.3.2 11. Product Discovery Playbook

  • Codify repeatable methods: user interviews, JTBD, prototype testing scripts.
  • Keeps discovery quality consistent even when personnel change.

1.1.3.3 12. Product Decision Log

  • Simple shared doc noting major decisions, rationale, and alternatives considered.
  • Creates institutional memory with minimal overhead.

1.2 🤝 CROSS-FUNCTIONAL PROCESSES

1.2.1 MUST

Establish these to ensure healthy flow between PM, BA, design, and engineering.

1.2.1.1 1. Weekly Product Sync

  • Who: PM, BA, Tech Lead, Designer.

  • Agenda:

    • Review OKRs and key metrics.
    • Check discovery progress.
    • Surface blockers or tech debt tradeoffs.

  • Why: Keeps all disciplines aligned; faster small-batch decision-making.

1.2.1.2 2. Design–PM Co-Discovery

  • What: Designer joins early discovery discussions; PM validates feasibility with Tech Lead.
  • Why: Prevents UX rework and maintains consistency in design debt.

1.2.1.3 3. Definition of Ready / Done

  • Ready: validated problem, acceptance criteria, design approved, dependencies clear.
  • Done: meets acceptance criteria, tested, released, metrics tracked.
  • Why: Reduces friction and rework between BA–engineering–QA.

1.2.2 SHOULD

Helps scale collaboration and feedback quality.

1.2.2.1 4. Sprint Demo + Impact Review

  • Go beyond feature demo → show impact metrics, usage, and learnings.
  • Encourages data-driven storytelling and team ownership.

1.2.2.2 5. Post-Release Validation

  • Lightweight “Release → Learn” template: hypothesis → metric check → insights → next step.
  • Keeps continuous improvement loop alive.

1.2.2.3 6. Tech–PM Tradeoff Conversations

  • Monthly session to balance roadmap vs. tech investment (e.g. scalability, refactors).
  • Ensures engineering isn’t just feature-factory mode.

1.2.3 COULD

Enhancers for when you’re stable and want to push maturity.

1.2.3.1 7. Experiment Backlog

  • Track all hypotheses and outcomes across time.
  • Promotes learning reuse across product areas.

1.2.3.2 8. Design System Integration

  • Formalize a lightweight component library and design guidelines to speed up iteration.

1.2.3.3 9. Cross-Team Product Review Guild

  • Periodic sharing of discovery insights, metrics, or design learnings across WiseTech products.
  • Strengthens shared product culture.

1.3 🧩 IMPLEMENTATION ORDER (LEAN ADOPTION)

Quarter Focus Key Actions
Q1 Foundation Product strategy canvas, OKRs, OST, RICE, weekly sync, definition of ready/done
Q2 Evidence loop Analytics dashboard, customer feedback loop, demos with impact, rolling roadmap
Q3 Maturity North Star Metric, hypothesis-driven validation, post-release learning
Q4 Scaling Decision log, experiment backlog, design system integration

Would you like me to turn this into a one-page operating model / playbook you can share internally (with visuals like an implementation timeline, RACI matrix, and example templates for OST, OKRs, and validation hypotheses)? It’d make a great artifact for team onboarding and alignment.

1.4 🎯 WHY YOU MIGHT AVOID OKRs

Common reasons product teams move away from OKRs:

  • Overhead from cascading and scoring cycles.
  • Difficulty defining measurable KRs for qualitative goals (especially in discovery-heavy teams).
  • Misalignment between OKR cadences (quarterly) and product delivery cadences (continuous).
  • Perception that OKRs are top-down rather than empowering.

So — let’s explore simpler, outcome-oriented, evidence-based frameworks that achieve the same intent without the bureaucracy.

1.5 🧭 STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT FRAMEWORKS (OKR ALTERNATIVES)

1.5.1 MUST

Use one of these as your top-level alignment and communication tool.

1.5.1.1 1. Product Strategy Canvas + Outcome Themes

  • What: A single-page strategy summary + 3–4 outcome themes that represent what success looks like.

  • Structure:

    • Vision: Why the product exists.
    • Target Users: Who we serve.
    • Differentiation: Why we’re different.
    • Outcome Themes: Broad success categories (e.g. adoption, retention, efficiency, scalability).

  • Example:

    • Theme 1: Increase customer automation adoption.
    • Theme 2: Improve onboarding success rate.
    • Theme 3: Enhance performance and reliability.

  • Why: Communicates intent and direction clearly without numeric rigidity.

  • Cadence: Review semi-annually.

  • Lean advantage: Zero scoring overhead, total clarity.

1.5.1.2 2. North Star Metric Framework

  • What: Define a single guiding metric that best represents long-term customer or business value, supported by 3–5 contributing “input metrics.”

  • Why: Forces outcome-thinking without the burden of OKR structures.

  • Example:

    • North Star: Number of monthly customers completing [key workflow].
    • Inputs: Setup completion rate, data import success rate, feature adoption frequency.

  • Cadence: Quarterly health review of NSM and input metrics.

  • Lean advantage: Strong focus with minimal reporting complexity.

1.5.2 SHOULD

Adds structure if you want more focus and measurability than a simple vision.

1.5.2.1 3. Objectives & Key Hypotheses (OKH)

  • What: Replace rigid KRs with testable hypotheses.

  • Format:

    Objective: Improve customer onboarding experience. Hypotheses:

    • We believe reducing setup steps will increase completion by 20%.
    • We believe better in-app guidance will lower support tickets by 15%.

  • Why: Keeps focus on learning and causality rather than arbitrary metric goals.

  • Cadence: Rolling; each hypothesis validated or retired as you learn.

  • Lean advantage: Works naturally with Dual-Track Discovery.

1.5.2.2 4. Impact Mapping

  • What: A visual map connecting Goal → Actors → Impacts → Deliverables.

  • Why: Helps trace every initiative to an observable behavior change, not a vanity metric.

  • Example:

    • Goal: Increase automation adoption.
    • Actor: Operations manager.
    • Impact: Configures 3 new rules/month.
    • Deliverable: Simplified rule builder UI.

  • Lean advantage: Excellent for aligning engineering and design on “why” without metric debates.

1.5.3 COULD

Optional additions that work well for mature or data-heavy teams.

1.5.3.1 5. Product Scorecards

  • What: Dashboard with 3–5 key dimensions (e.g. acquisition, activation, retention, satisfaction, efficiency) each tracked by one key metric.
  • Why: Enables ongoing discussion of tradeoffs (e.g., new features improve adoption but hurt performance).
  • Cadence: Monthly or quarterly.
  • Lean advantage: Turns metrics into an operating conversation rather than a static goal list.

1.5.3.2 6. V2MOM (Salesforce Framework)

  • What:

    • Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, Measures.

  • Why: Simple narrative format for alignment without numerical obsession.

  • Example:

    • Vision: Become the most efficient logistics automation platform.
    • Values: Simplicity, reliability, measurable impact.
    • Methods: Focus on performance, streamline setup.
    • Obstacles: Legacy integration dependencies.
    • Measures: Reduced onboarding time, faster feature delivery.

  • Lean advantage: Lightweight, story-driven, cross-functional clarity.

1.5.3.3 7. Product Bets Framework (Basecamp-style)

  • What: Treat initiatives as time-boxed “bets” with clear expected outcomes, appetite (effort), and kill criteria.
  • Why: Emphasizes focus, risk-taking, and accountability without metric targets.
  • Cadence: Rolling; reviewed post-bet.
  • Lean advantage: Great for teams that like autonomy and narrative reasoning over numeric rigidity.

1.6 🧩 HOW TO COMBINE THEM (PRACTICAL HYBRID)

If you want OKR-like focus without the OKR pain, use this hybrid:

Layer Purpose Recommended Framework
Vision (2–3 yrs) Product purpose & north star Product Strategy Canvas
Yearly direction Key outcomes to pursue Outcome Themes
Quarterly alignment Focused bets & learning goals Objectives + Key Hypotheses (OKH)
Ongoing measurement Track performance health North Star Metric + Product Scorecard

This setup gives you clear alignment, measurable learning, and minimal ceremony — perfect for an autonomous product team inside a large organization like WiseTech.

1.7 🔄 IMPLEMENTATION TIPS

  • Communicate via visuals: Miro/Notion one-pager > long docs.
  • Use a “living document” style: Update hypotheses or outcome themes quarterly.
  • Integrate with delivery: Tie bets/hypotheses to Jira Epics or Notion cards.
  • Run quarterly reflection instead of OKR scoring: “What did we learn? What will we stop/start/continue?”

Would you like me to show what this would look like as a living example in Notion or Confluence format (with templates for the Product Strategy Canvas, Outcome Themes, and OKH cards)? It’d give you a plug-and-play alternative system to OKRs that your team could adopt immediately.