Trello for small product rollouts?

Question

I am looking to use Trello for small product rollouts. Categories and properties need to be pre-defined so that the products can be efficiently created by another team. A good example of this would be making a pizza. Each pizza would have multiple categories which are each made up of different properties. Crust, and Toppings would be categories, and each category would ideally have a dropdown with a checklist of the various properties you can select. For example, the Crust category would have a list of "Thin", "Thick", "Well Done", "Gluten Free", etc. You could select multiple properties for that category since it's a checklist.

Each rollout is small, and fast. All of the properties are pre-defined so that the person rolling it out, doesn't have to remember any properties to add. Just check off what's needed. Because of this nature, we don't need an entire board dedicated to a single product rollout. We want this to be at the card level.

Is a system like this possible in Trello?

Many thanks.

Mary from Planyway · Answer

Hi @Mario M

Implementing a structured approach like the one you're describing for product rollouts in Trello is feasible, but it requires a bit of creativity in how you use Trello's features since Trello doesn't natively support dropdown menus with checklists in the manner you're envisioning. However, Trello's flexibility and its power-up features can be leveraged to achieve a similar result. Here's a strategy to structure your Trello setup for product rollouts, like making pizzas with specific categories and properties:

1. Board Setup:

* Create a Board named after your project or product line (e.g., "Pizza Rollouts").
* Lists for Categories: Create lists to represent each category (e.g., "Crust", "Toppings").
* Card Templates: Utilize Trello’s card template feature to create templates for common product configurations or to serve as starting points. This can partially address the need for pre-defined selections.

2. Using Custom Fields (Power-Up):

* Activate the Custom Fields Power-Up: This allows you to add custom data fields to your cards. For each category like "Crust" or "Toppings", you can create a custom field.
* Dropdown Options: While Trello's custom fields support dropdowns, they don't allow for multiple selections within a single dropdown. To work around this, you could create multiple custom fields within a category, each representing a possible property (e.g., for "Crust": one field for "Thin", another for "Thick", etc.), or use a checklist as a way to select multiple properties.

3. Checklists for Properties:

* Checklists as Properties: Instead of using dropdowns for properties within categories, use Trello's checklist feature. You can pre-define checklists on your card templates. For example, a "Crust Options" checklist on a card template might include "Thin", "Thick", "Well Done", "Gluten Free", etc.
* Multiple Selections: Checklists allow for multiple selections, which suits your requirement. Team members can check off what's needed for each product rollout.

4. Automation:

* Trello Automation: Use Trello’s built-in automation tool, Butler, to automate repetitive tasks. For example, you could automate the creation of specific checklists or custom fields when a new card is created from a template or when it’s moved to a specific list.

5. Card as Product Rollout:

* Each product rollout is represented by a card. The card contains all necessary information, structured via custom fields and checklists according to your categories and properties. The card moves through lists on the board to represent its stage in the rollout process.

6. Visualize the Workflow:

* In order to make your workflow visible and distribute cards by responsible members, I'd recommend to use Planyway timeline for that.

Ste Wright · Answer

Hi @Mario M

This is possible using Trello.

Assuming the Board would be status-based, for the categorisation you could either...

* Use Checklists - although you might want to use these for sub-tasks to complete
* Use Custom Fields - these are only available in paid plans; see pricing options on this page

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Another alternative is to consider using Jira instead?

Jira's boards are already status-based, and offer a wide range of customisation even in the Free version (including custom fields).

Check out...

* Jira Software: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira
* Jira Work Management: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/work-management

Ste