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If you feel like your team is working harder than ever, but the results don’t match the effort, you aren’t alone. It is a pretty common sentiment within SaaS teams.
Designers are burned out chasing pixel-perfect tweaks for features users end up abandoning. Engineers are frustrated by sudden changes in scope. As a product manager or the founder, you’re stuck putting out fires instead of building something meaningful.
It’s not for lack of trying. It’s the process.
I read something very interesting while watching my own team going through similar times - Basecamp’s Shape Up philosophy.
In this post, I’ll break down three key ideas from Shape Up that have changed the way I approach problem solving as a designer. Think of these as a set of principles, not rules, to help your team focus on solving the right problems.
Rethinking How You Decide What To Build
Let’s take a step back.
Think about the last time your team delivered a project.
How much of that work felt truly meaningful? Was your team solving a clear problem?
Or did it feel like you were just trying to ship something - anything - to meet the sprint deadline or commitment to the customer?
Now imagine this.
It’s the start of a new project. You’ve got six weeks, not to deliver everything on a wish list, but to create the best version of what truly solves for user needs.
Your team isn’t overwhelmed by endless tasks or drowning in feedback loops. Instead, they’re laser-focused on solving a well-defined problem, knowing exactly what success looks like.
This is how Shape Up elevates the entire system.
Fixed time, flexible scope
The biggest problem with traditional Agile sprints? They create artificial pressure.
Teams are forced to cram everything in a short time frame, regardless of whether the scope makes sense. This leads to compromises - on quality, usability, or both.
Shape Up flips the script by anchoring the timeline while letting the scope adjust. In practice:
Teams get a fixed six-week cycle - long enough to focus but short enough to maintain momentum
Instead of jamming features into the cycle, the question becomes - What’s the most valuable work we can deliver in this time?
This subtle shift transforms how teams think. It’s not about finishing everything. It’s about shipping something meaningful.
What happens when scope is flexible?
Teams prioritize impact over perfection
They cut unnecessary features early, avoiding scope creep
There’s room for iteration without sacrificing deadlines
I found a common theme here between Basecamp and Spotify -
Small teams are trusted with projects after shaping the problem to be solved.
Ever handed a project to your team only to realize halfway through that no one fully understood what was expected? That’s the result of vague tasks and unclear boundaries.
Shaping addresses this by focusing on preparation before execution.
It’s like sketching the blueprints before constructing a building. Without it, your team risks wandering into ambiguity or burning time on tasks that don’t matter.
What does it involve?
Defining the problem: Get crystal clear about what you’re solving. Instead of “make the dashboard better“, reframe it as “reduce confusion on the analytics page“
Setting boundaries: Identify what’s in the scope - and more importantly, what isn’t. It will fare well for the shaped up work to describe “this project doesn’t include changes to the API“
Sketching ideas: This is rough sketching, not pixel-perfect UI designing. “People who read the pitch and look at the drawings without much context need to “get“ the idea“, says Ryan Singer in his book Shape Up.
At its core, shaping saves your team from drowning in uncertainty. It ensures they’re solving the right problem—not just any problem.
A side note - what not to build
Ryan, in his book about this framework, mentions very often about knowing what not to build.
Calling out what’s out of scope isn’t just a formality—it’s a guardrail that keeps teams focused and prevents wasted effort.
Here are simple guidelines you may use:
If it doesn’t directly solve the defined problem, it’s out
If it’s a nice-to-have that risks derailing the timeline, shelve it for later
It if introduces complexity that outweighs value, skip it
Ruthlessly editing your shaped up scope will be the biggest contribution you make as a teammate.
Betting over backlogs
Here’s an annoying question - how much of your back log actually gets done?
For most teams, the answer is not much.
Shape Up goes against convention to say, scrap the backlog.
Instead of keeping a running list of tasks, Basecamp uses a betting table. Every six weeks, decision-makers choose a small number of projects to “bet” the team’s time on. The rest? It’s shelved—intentionally ignored for now.
How does betting change everything?
Focus on the highest impact work: Betting forces hard choices. What matters most is the cycle, value to the customer within the cycle and constrained use of resources
Alignment across the team: Everyone knows the priorities because there’s no noise from an endless backlog
Better use of resources: Teams aren’t spread thin chasing too many projects
Interesting Techniques From Shape Up
1. Breadboarding
Think of breadboarding as a way to sketch functionality without getting bogged down in design details. It’s a method for visually mapping out the flow of a feature or product—what happens, where it happens, and in what sequence.
Imagine designing a checkout flow. A breadboard might show -
User adds an item to the cart
User goes to the cart
Proceeds to payment
Completes payment and lands on confirmation screen
No colors, no buttons - just the core steps to align on functionality
2. Embedded sketches
These are quick, low-fidelity drawings embedded in written explanations to clarify ideas. Ryan calls them fat marker sketches.
Instead of saying “Add a search bar to the header”, a sketch shows the bar’s placement above the navigation menu.
A rough rectangle with a few labels is often enough to spark meaningful discussions.
3. Pitches
Pitches are concise documents outlining the problem, solution, scope, and risks—everything a team needs to bet on the project confidently.
A sample pitch from Basecamp:
Key Takeaways - Ideas You Can Try Today
You don’t need the entire Shape Up framework to see its benefits.
In fact, I had a conversation today with the PM I work with about this. He said it depends on the maturity of the team building the product. So, this framework may very well not work for you. Nevertheless, it is worth it to try a few things.
Try a six-week cycle
Set a fixed timeline for your next project, but allow the scope to remain flexible. Instead of squeezing everything in, ask -
“What’s the best version we can deliver in six weeks?
This ensures your team focuses on quality over quantity, reducing burnout and rework.
Shape your next problem well
Before jumping into execution, take time to shape the work. It is worth it.
Define the problem clearly, set boundaries and sketch a low-fidelity solution to give your team direction without micromanaging.
Rethink how you approach your backlog
Experiment with a betting table for the next cycle.
Pick 2 or 3 high-priority projects to focus on. Archive everything else - yes, everything. Even bug fixes. (Unless bugs are so bad that the product stops functioning, they can be put off for a bug-fixing cycle of itself).
This forces you to make touch decisions and ensures your team’s energy goes into work that truly matters.
Build with clarity, not chaos.
What could your team achieve if you gave them six weeks of clarity? The answer and surrounding reflections might surprise you. I’m eager to hear from you about this.
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