We've been using it since Beta. It certainly does have some configuration complexity (lot of options, not all useful to everyone) but once trimmed down a little and tailored to some principles on how to do discovery, it's quite nice.
My problem remains some PMs not understanding the nature and concepts of Product Discovery itself, which the tool alone doesn't fix.
So my issues with Jira Software continue with Jira Product Discovery.
Process bad + tool bad(ly configured?) + people bad = fail.
Process good + tool proper(ly configured) + people bad = ALSO FAIL.
Agreed on Jira's relative value as a source of truth to individual scrums, horizontal teams, and engineering stakeholders via dashboards. The worst was one scrum that ADDED Trello to Jira. Anyway, are you going to write up UX prototyping tools? I prefer Figma though not strongly. Don't like Invision much. Balsamiq is fool's gold.
Interesting Hot Take, it was a great read! Bumped into this in 2024, but it still is relevant. I'd like to add a +1 for Linear. It's the only tool that actually doesn't bother me. We pair it with Notion for docs (but everything in Notion has a purpose, so its kept small on purpose) and it works quite well. I love the limitations it has. But I lead a team of Platform engineers - we're nerds, technically inclined and not really a Product team per-se. Your mileage may vary.
As a reluctant Asana convert (and now fan), the part of this hot take I related to most was the assertion that the problem with Jira is not the tool and its UX usually, but rather how it's unveiled and socialized (or not) within the team/org. Evan Goldin's assertion that "How useful Jira is, is purely a function of how it’s set up and how much the team actually uses it" really resonated with me. For example, at Imperfect, Asana was just sorta rolled out with no fanfare or tutorial as to how, when, or why we ought to use it. This led to pockets of the company using it religiously for a while and some of us sitting on the sidelines feeling frustrated by a tool that appeared to add more complexity than it solved for. The result was frustration and some "Asana sucks" sentiment that I briefly partook in. However, once the brand team set aside some time to chat through how Asana worked, answer everyones FAQs, and agree to some best practices on how we were going to use it as a group, our opinions on Asana changed a lot. We all ended up using Asana, getting value from it, and enjoying its contribution to workplace organization and project management. I saw this exact dynamic replicated at another startup after Imperfect: a mini civil war that boiled down to half the company using Air Table and half of it using Asana. Again, the problem wasn't actually either of these tools, it was that pockets of people were using them differently without common norms or expectations. My five cents is that PM platforms like these aren't panaceas and they also aren't demonic forces sent to complicate our work. Like email or Slack, they're just tools that can be terrifically useful or terrifically pointless depending on how thoughtfully and intentionally they're used. A huge part of this is setting up education, norms, and expectations around how and when to use them. This last piece can often get left by the wayside in fast-moving startups/companies, hence the frustration. Dumping Jira or Asana onto a busy team with little follow through is no more helpful than dumping a Sous vide machine onto a busy cook and expected a delicious dinner. We all would do well to remember that tools are only as effective as the humans using them are empowered to be.
Changed from Jira to Linear a few months ago at our company; can safely say that all the competitors are not actually crap.
We all have our opinions 😊
Atlassian themselves seem to sloowly understand that a ticket mgmt system is not well suited for product work - enter Jira Discovery: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/product-discovery
We have a few teams trialing it atm and they are quite happy. Going to give it a spin too.
I have heard this and plan in exploring.
We've been using it since Beta. It certainly does have some configuration complexity (lot of options, not all useful to everyone) but once trimmed down a little and tailored to some principles on how to do discovery, it's quite nice.
My problem remains some PMs not understanding the nature and concepts of Product Discovery itself, which the tool alone doesn't fix.
So my issues with Jira Software continue with Jira Product Discovery.
Process bad + tool bad(ly configured?) + people bad = fail.
Process good + tool proper(ly configured) + people bad = ALSO FAIL.
Agreed on Jira's relative value as a source of truth to individual scrums, horizontal teams, and engineering stakeholders via dashboards. The worst was one scrum that ADDED Trello to Jira. Anyway, are you going to write up UX prototyping tools? I prefer Figma though not strongly. Don't like Invision much. Balsamiq is fool's gold.
Oooh, good topic suggestion Mike. That could be next!
Okay we’re keeping Jira. We are firing Confluence into the sun though
Right into the sun.
Ah yes!!!! Been waiting for this one!
And here it is!
Interesting Hot Take, it was a great read! Bumped into this in 2024, but it still is relevant. I'd like to add a +1 for Linear. It's the only tool that actually doesn't bother me. We pair it with Notion for docs (but everything in Notion has a purpose, so its kept small on purpose) and it works quite well. I love the limitations it has. But I lead a team of Platform engineers - we're nerds, technically inclined and not really a Product team per-se. Your mileage may vary.
As a reluctant Asana convert (and now fan), the part of this hot take I related to most was the assertion that the problem with Jira is not the tool and its UX usually, but rather how it's unveiled and socialized (or not) within the team/org. Evan Goldin's assertion that "How useful Jira is, is purely a function of how it’s set up and how much the team actually uses it" really resonated with me. For example, at Imperfect, Asana was just sorta rolled out with no fanfare or tutorial as to how, when, or why we ought to use it. This led to pockets of the company using it religiously for a while and some of us sitting on the sidelines feeling frustrated by a tool that appeared to add more complexity than it solved for. The result was frustration and some "Asana sucks" sentiment that I briefly partook in. However, once the brand team set aside some time to chat through how Asana worked, answer everyones FAQs, and agree to some best practices on how we were going to use it as a group, our opinions on Asana changed a lot. We all ended up using Asana, getting value from it, and enjoying its contribution to workplace organization and project management. I saw this exact dynamic replicated at another startup after Imperfect: a mini civil war that boiled down to half the company using Air Table and half of it using Asana. Again, the problem wasn't actually either of these tools, it was that pockets of people were using them differently without common norms or expectations. My five cents is that PM platforms like these aren't panaceas and they also aren't demonic forces sent to complicate our work. Like email or Slack, they're just tools that can be terrifically useful or terrifically pointless depending on how thoughtfully and intentionally they're used. A huge part of this is setting up education, norms, and expectations around how and when to use them. This last piece can often get left by the wayside in fast-moving startups/companies, hence the frustration. Dumping Jira or Asana onto a busy team with little follow through is no more helpful than dumping a Sous vide machine onto a busy cook and expected a delicious dinner. We all would do well to remember that tools are only as effective as the humans using them are empowered to be.
Also, this was tremendously fun and informative post! Thanks for sharing! I ought to have opened my novel-length response with that. :)
Love the novel-length post. Thanks Reilly!!!