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Allow users to set work in progress limits by weight

Problem to solve

How might we allow users to limit their board lists by metrics other than issue count in order to give users options in limiting their work in progress that match their workflow so that they can produce work more efficiently?

Intended users

Dev Managers, Execs, Team Leads, Product Managers, Project Managers

Further details

The more issues in progress in a given workflow stage, the longer it takes to complete any one given issue. That fact, coupled with the cost of context switching being a 15-40% negative drain on productivity, makes having multiple issues in progress incredibly inefficient. The goal of continuous delivery is to break customer value down into small vertical feature slices that can be iteratively and incrementally deployed. This article describes the problem from a quantitative standpoint and can be applied to the concept of both a broader release and a single unit of functionality capable of producing customer value.

Proposal

Update the Work in progress limit widget from within List settings to allow for a selection of metric type (Items, Weight).

Implementation details

View designs below for additional details

  • Upon Edit of the Work in progress limit widget, expose and focus the dropdown/select with the disclosure open.
  • The options available from the disclosure are:
    • Items
    • Weight
  • Once a metric type is selected, expose the value/number field.
  • After a metric type has been selected, show the Clear option in the header of the disclosure for the type selection, which defaults back to None (no limit) and returns to the read state.
  • User can Apply/Save selections from the Edit state by:
    • Clicking outside of the widget
    • Selecting Apply button (replaces Edit button when in edit mode)
    • Esc key
    • Enter or Return key from value/number field
  • For the read state, display as [metric] – [value] (ex: Items – 8)
  • In the case of NULL values when the user applies selections, default the widget value to None (no limit).
  • When a weight limit has been applied, update the list header to show [total weight]/[weight limit] (like we do for the current items/count limit).

Items limit set and exceeded in list

  • The only change from the existing behavior is to change the copy slightly for the divider line area to:
    • Work in progress limit: [n] items

Weight limit set and exceeded in list

  • Change the list background to red 50, like we do for the current items/count limit.
  • Use red 700 for the current weight value within the list header (like we do for the items/count when it is over the limit)
  • Display the divider line directly above the item in the list that would put the list over the limit.
  • Use the following copy for the diver line area:
    • Work in progress limit: [n] weight

Resources

Links / references

See #11403 (closed) for longer discussion and reference.

Edited by Nick Brandt