Basecamp highlighted their internal design process and their efforts to get to solutions and processes faster. It’s called Shape Up, and it outlines how they make forward progress and products that matter to their users.

It’s got a lot of design thinking tools we are all familiar with, but it also has some new thinking, new takes, and innovative ways to shortcut innovation. The first section looks at what used to be called framing the problem and gives it a new spin. The idea of shaping is at the heart of their methods. You have to set the boundaries and the general shape (scope) of the problem, but leave room to add, subtract, improve, and innovate. Get too narrow and there’s no room left to explore. Get too wide and there’s no place to focus, and that can leave the team flailing and looping.

Some of the really exciting items are about how to avoid rabbit holes, loops, and time sucks. When working with a team, and that team’s varying opinions, knowing what to concentrate, when to concentrate, and how much to concentrate is of the utmost importance to get a project to move forward.