Overview
Based on Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Perri. The "build trap" is when teams measure success by features shipped instead of value delivered. Feature factories build a lot - and move metrics very little. Perri's framework: every item in your backlog should trace to a measurable outcome. If it can't, question whether it should be built at all.
The output/outcome distinction:
- Output - something you ship ("we launched a dashboard")
- Outcome - a change in user or business behavior ("users now self-serve 40% of support queries")
Outputs are inputs to outcomes. Shipping outputs that don't move outcomes is waste.
Workflow
Step 1: List the current roadmap or backlog items
Work from the actual list. Don't audit hypothetically.
Step 2: Classify each item
For each item, ask: "Is this an output or an outcome?"
- Output: a feature, a page, a report, an integration, a tool
- Outcome: a change in what users do or what the business achieves
Mark each: O (output) or OC (outcome).
Step 3: Link outputs to outcomes
For every output, complete this sentence:
"If we build [output], we expect [user behavior change], which will result in [business metric change]."
If you can't complete the sentence, the output is not yet justified. Put it on hold.
Step 4: Identify orphaned outputs
Outputs with no traceable outcome are "orphaned." These are the build trap. Common sources:
- Stakeholder requests with no user research behind them
- "We should have this" features with no metric attached
- Copy-what-competitors-have items
List all orphaned outputs. For each, decide: find the outcome it serves, reframe it, or remove it.
Step 5: Check outcome ownership
For each outcome on the roadmap: does a specific team own it? Outcomes without owners don't get achieved.
Step 6: Rewrite the roadmap in outcome language
Replace output-based roadmap items with outcome-based ones.
Before: "Q1: Launch user dashboard, Add CSV export, Rebuild notifications"
After: "Q1: Users can self-serve progress tracking (currently requires support ticket)"
Step 7: Set a ratio target
Perri's guidance: a healthy team should spend 70%+ of capacity on outcome-driven work. Calculate the current ratio. If it's below 50%, the team is in the build trap.
Anti-Patterns
1. Relabeling outputs as outcomes
Bad: "Our outcome is to launch the dashboard."
Good: Launching is never an outcome. "Users track their own progress without contacting support" is an outcome.
2. Outcomes without baselines
Bad: "Increase engagement."
Good: "Increase weekly active usage from 2.1 to 3.5 sessions per user."
Outcomes without baselines can't be measured, so they can never be achieved.
3. Too many outcomes
Bad: 12 outcomes for a quarter across one team.
Good: 1-3 outcomes per team. More than that means none will be achieved.
4. Measuring outputs as proof of outcomes
Bad: "We shipped 14 features this quarter - great execution."
Good: "We shipped 14 features. Did any of them move the metrics we cared about?"
Quality Checklist