Product Owner · Cheatsheet

Product Owner Cheatsheet

A short reminder sheet that pairs with the full playbook. Use it in a meeting when you need the next move, not a long read. Tap “What this means” on any card if a heading is unclear.

Civil Service specific Universal any sector Both

MAP-01

Value maps

Both

Discovery: Double Diamond · JTBD

Outcomes: OKRs

Prioritise: RICE · WSJF · MoSCoW · Now/Next/Later

Standards: GDS Service Standard · WCAG · Green Book benefits

RL-01

The role

Both

You own value decisions. Committees do not.

Run daily:

Right user problem?
Highest-value bet?
Will we learn if it ships?

VL-01

Outcomes

Universal

OKRs before feature lists
Stories with so-that value
Reviews show learning
Kill bets that fail evidence

VL-02

Discovery

Universal

Dual-track: timebox spikes

Evidence next to risky bets

Kill ideas that fail tests

Map evidence to Service Standard in government

BL-01

Backlog ready

Universal

Testable acceptance
Named dependencies
Sprint-sized slices
Non-functionals noted

BL-02

Prioritise

Both

Publish the method

Challenge inputs, not vibes

Hold the Must line with capacity visible

Stale scores are worse than no scores

ST-01

Trade-offs

Universal

Options + recommendation

Decision log: choice, why, who, date

RAG on outcome risk

Brief SRO before group surprises

ST-02

Tone & ask

Universal

Team: intent + edge cases

SRO: outcome + recommendation + ask

Drop "the business wants". Name the person and your call.

CS-01

Public value

Civil Service

Service Standard evidence continuous
WCAG in Ready and Done
Benefits owners named
Design System by default

QL-01

Done & learn

Universal

DoD with non-functionals

Watch DORA under scope pressure

Value narrative: outcome, evidence, next bet, kill criteria

GV-03

Troubleshooting: symptom to first move

Universal

!Everything Must: show capacity, name the arbiter

!Feature factory: rewrite next three items as outcome bets

!Discovery never ends: timebox, ship a falsifying slice

!Mid-Sprint injections: protect Sprint Goal, park asks

!UAT rejects Done: rewrite AC with tester and BA

!A11y at the end: put WCAG into Ready and Done now

REF-01

Field reference

Both

One-minute checklist when the backlog is on fire:

Name the outcome at risk, one sentence
Discovery, priority, dependency or quality?
Decision that unlocks most value, who owns it
Brief SRO before they hear a distorted version
Protect the Sprint Goal while you sort it

Value: OKR, JTBD, RICE, WSJF, MoSCoW

Quality: DoR, DoD, WCAG

Public: GDS, Service Standard, Green Book

Govern: RAID, RAG, SRO, decision log