Why Sushi Rolls
Sushi Rolls is a “roll-out” framework created to help designers plan and communicate design standards to their non-design partners; by relating back to something recognizable – sushi.
This framework helps teams build better MVPs without compromising quality. There is also the Prod Bento Box and MVPanini framework, but we’ll skip over those for now.
Clients used with: PC Financial, Telus, CIBC
How to use this framework
Step 1: The Ingredients
Imagine a delicious sushi roll. Each perfectly sliced piece complete with a seaweed wrapper, sticky rice and filling. We can think of this sushi roll as the E2E experience, and the ingredients as a “check list” for success. What does each piece require in order to be considered high quality? Popular ingredients include: strategic copy, analytics tracking, and reusable components.
Compile a list of criteria “ingredients” into your team’s D.O.D. (Definition of Done). If you don’t define the ingredients for success, it will be harder to iterate without a baseline.
Step 2: The Prep
Brainstorm feature “pieces” your experience might include. At this stage, you don’t need to limit the number of features, as refinement will come during planning. The goal is to get a large pool of features you can pick from.
Once you have a list of features, group dependant features together and identify which can be launched or removed without impact.
Then, ensure each piece meets your criteria by comparing to your D.O.D. defined or refine further. Once that’s ready, you can build your rolls.
Step 3: The Roll-out plan
Your rolls can range in size based on the dependencies identified in discovery. I recommend building the MVP roll first. Start with the features that drive the most value for the business and client, and are fairly easy to deliver. Use an Impact Effort Matrix if you are unsure which features those might be. At this stage, the delivery team should be working together on the “roll-map”, to advocate for their respective practises. This means tech, content, visuals, accessibility, UX, PM, PO, etc. Allow a chance for everyone to speak up, and use facilitation methods to ensure everyone is heard.
Next, of the feature pieces remaining, consider building future rolls. These will become your future iterations and MVPs. If possible, add your future rolls into a backlog to keep track of them, and plan them in your delivery cycles.
That’s it! Your rolls are ready to be tackled and enjoyed.
Final Results
Interested in using the Sushi Roll method for your team’s delivery process? I’ve coached teams through product launches and would love to do the same for you. Get in touch if you’d like to learn more!