Breaking Step-Projects into Daily Tasks

Break a GIST step-project into small, sprint-ready tasks that each trace back to the experiment, the idea and the goal they serve.

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At a Glance

Overview

Tasks are the bottom layer of the GIST Planning Framework. Itamar Gilad describes them as the bite-size activities each step-project is broken into, and he says this part of the system is well covered by agile planning tools, Kanban boards and modern development practices, so nothing needs to change at this level (GIST Framework). The difference GIST makes is above the tasks: the layers above them are now agile as well.

That makes this skill about connection more than about technique. A team already knows how to write tickets and run sprints. The work here is to make sure the tickets for a step-project are the smallest set that answers the step's question, and that every one of them can be traced to the step, the idea and the goal. A Mind the Product write-up of Gilad's talk describes GIST as creating a clear thread from the goal of a project to the everyday task, and this is where that thread either holds or breaks.

In the original article, tasks are planned in 1-2 week iterations according to the team's preferred method, such as Scrum sprint planning, and adjusted daily (HackerNoon copy). For teams with a physical board, Gilad suggests placing the Kanban board to the right of the GIST board, so tasks flow left to right between the two boards (The GIST Board).

The output is a task list for the active step: each task small, with a done condition, an owner and a link to its step, sequenced so the step finishes on time with clean evidence.

How It Works

A step-project exists to answer one question. Its tasks fall into three groups: building the thing users will see or use, instrumenting it so the result can be measured, and running and analyzing the test. Teams often plan the first group well and forget the other two. A step whose tracking was never set up produces no evidence, however well the feature was built.

Task size follows common agile practice. The Scrum Guide notes that developers often decompose work into smaller items of one day or less during sprint planning. Small tasks make progress visible every day and surface blockers early, which matters for a time-boxed step. A task that runs for days hides whether the step is on track.

Scope comes from the step's hypothesis. For each candidate task, ask whether the step's question can be answered without it. If it can, move the task to a later step or to the full build. Early steps, such as a fake-door test or a prototype, often need only a few tasks and sometimes no engineering at all. Polish, edge cases and scale usually wait until the idea has earned a larger step.

Traceability is the other half. Each task carries a tag, label or naming convention that links it to its step-project, and through it to the idea and goal. When the step ends and the team reviews the result, it can see exactly what was built and measured. When a step is stopped early because an idea failed, its open tasks can be found and closed at once instead of lingering in the backlog.

Tasks also feed information back up. When a task reveals that the step is bigger than planned, or that the measurement will not work, that is news for the step's owner, who may need to reshape the step. The daily standup is where it surfaces, and the step-project review every one or two weeks is where the plan changes.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Restate the step's question and threshold

Start from the step-project brief. Write the question, the success threshold and the end date at the top of the planning document. Everyone doing the tasks should be able to say what the step is testing. If they cannot, clarify the brief before breaking it down.

Step 2: List the deliverables

Name the few things the step needs: for example, a prototype screen, an event that records the key action, a message to recruit test users, and an analysis of the result. Include measurement and analysis alongside building. Keep the list to what the question requires.

Step 3: Break each deliverable into tasks

With the people who will do the work, list the tasks under each deliverable. Engineers and designers will spot work a product manager misses, such as configuration, data access or review steps. Write each task as a concrete action with a visible result.

Step 4: Size tasks to a day or less

Split any task that looks bigger than about a day, following the Scrum Guide's practice of small work items. Ask what could make a task take longer and split along those risks. Small tasks make the daily standup meaningful, because each day shows real movement.

Step 5: Write a done condition for each task

For each task, write how anyone can check it is finished: a screen that works on the target devices, an event that appears in the analytics tool with the right properties, a recruiting message that has been sent. Clear done conditions prevent tasks that are almost finished for days.

Step 6: Sequence and assign

Identify dependencies, especially instrumentation that must be in place before users see anything. Order the tasks so the measurable path is ready first. Give each task one owner and place the tasks on the team's board, tagged with the step-project.

Step 7: Check the list against the step's question

Before starting, read the task list against the hypothesis. Remove tasks the question does not need. Add anything missing for measurement or analysis. Confirm the work fits the step's time box, and if it does not, reduce scope or talk to the step's owner about splitting the step.

Step 8: Track, adjust and close out

Run the tasks in the team's normal sprint or Kanban flow and raise any surprise that threatens the step at the standup. When the step ends, or is stopped early, close or remove its remaining tasks. Record in the step's notes what was built and measured, so the result can be interpreted.

Best Practices

• Plan measurement tasks first. A step without working instrumentation cannot answer its question, however good the build is.
• Keep tasks small, in line with the Scrum Guide practice of work items of one day or less, so progress and blockers show up every day.
• Tag every task with its step-project. Traceability lets the team interpret results and clean up quickly when an idea is stopped.
• Build only what the question needs. Polish and edge cases belong to later steps, after the idea has earned more investment.
• Leave the team's process alone. Gilad's GIST article says nothing needs to change at the task level, so use the board and rituals the team already knows.
• Break down tasks with the people who will do them. Their knowledge of the system turns hidden work into visible tasks.

Common Mistakes

• Building the full feature inside a step: Tasks for edge cases, settings and scale creep in and turn an experiment into a project. Cut every task the step's question does not need.
• Forgetting analysis and recruiting: Teams plan the build and forget to plan how users will be recruited or how results will be read. Add those tasks at the start.
• Losing the link to the step: Untagged tasks drift into the general backlog, and nobody can tell what they were for. Tag them and review the tags at the step-project review.
• Oversized tasks: A task that runs all week hides problems until the step is nearly over. Split it until each piece can finish in about a day.
• Keeping tasks alive after a step is stopped: When an idea fails, its open tasks should close at once. Leftover tasks waste effort on an idea the evidence already rejected.

References

• Examples: Worked examples and scenarios
• FAQ: Frequently asked questions
• Parent Method: GIST Planning Framework

Related Skills

• Designing Step-Projects to Validate Product Ideas
• GIST Planning Cadence: Managing Multi-Cadence Cycles
• ICE Scoring: Prioritizing Product Ideas by Confidence

Sources

• Itamar Gilad: GIST Framework
• HackerNoon: the original GIST Planning article
• Itamar Gilad: The GIST Board and Other GIST Tools
• Mind the Product: The GIST Framework by Itamar Gilad
• The 2020 Scrum Guide

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