Boards on Saved Views: Project Example

Timeline

gantt
    title Lifecycle Boards
    dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
    axisFormat %b %d

    section Milestones
    18.10                    :m1810, 2026-02-14, 2026-03-13
    18.11                    :m1811, 2026-03-14, 2026-04-10
    19.0                     :m190, 2026-04-11, 2026-05-15
    19.1                     :m191, 2026-05-16, 2026-06-12
    19.2                     :m192, 2026-06-13, 2026-07-10
    19.3                     :m193, 2026-07-11, 2026-08-14

    section Pre-work
    Requirements discovery   :discovery, 2026-02-14, 2026-04-18
    Groundwork            :prereqs, 2026-03-14, 2026-04-24

    section Active development
    Alpha                    :alpha, 2026-04-18, 2026-05-29
    Internal rollout         :crit, milestone, 2026-05-29, 0d
    GA                       :ga, 2026-05-29, 2026-07-10
    GitLab.com rollout       :crit, rollout, 2026-06-26, 2026-07-10

    section Feedback and clean-up
    Post-GA follow-ups       :followups, 2026-06-26, 2026-08-14

Stages

We break projects into time-limited stages and cut scope to a minimal viable change to:

  • Reduce cognitive load — engineers work on smaller changes, smaller sets of requirements, and fewer issues.
  • Simplify project management and spot delays early — smaller stages are easier to keep on track and it’s easier to notice when one is late.
  • Surface bugs and feedback earlier.
Stage Outcome
Requirements discovery Decision on scope for subsequent stages. Work broken down into issues. Rough estimation of the project. Clear definition of what is out of scope.
Groundwork Refactorings and adaptations that make the rest of the development easier.
Alpha Core workflow can be used for dogfooding and internal testing, but can be rough on the edges. Includes addressing internal testing feedback.
GA The smallest coherent experience we’re comfortable releasing to users. Includes addressing user feedback from alpha, fixing rough edges, and a feature flag rollout period (~2 weeks before milestone cut-off).
Post-GA follow-ups Features deferred past the initial release, user feedback, code and test cleanup. Must be completed within 1–2 milestones after GA. When in doubt, put issues in out of scope.
Out of scope No commitment. May be done later, reprioritized, or closed.

Epic organization

Lifecycle Boards (top-level epic)
├── Lifecycle Boards — Requirements discovery
│   ├── UX discussions (issue)
│   ├── Lifecycle Boards — Card (epic)
│   ├── Lifecycle Boards — Columns (epic)
│   └── ...
├── Lifecycle Boards — Groundwork
│   ├── Refactor work item listing page (epic)
│   ├── Load work items via REST API instead of GraphQL on listing pages (epic)
│   └── ...
├── Lifecycle Boards — Alpha
│   ├── Status columns (epic)
│   │   ├── Load available statuses (issue)
│   │   └── Load work items by column (issue)
│   ├── Card (epic)
│   ├── API changes (epic)
│   ├── Transform view preferences dropdown into drawer (epic)
│   ├── Card drag and drop (epic)
│   │   ├── Persist changes (issue)
│   │   └── Basic animation (issue)
│   └── ...
├── Lifecycle Boards — GA
│   ├── Internal testing feedback (issue)
│   ├── Card enhancements (epic)
│   ├── Feature flag rollout (epic)
│   ├── Card drag and drop (epic)
│   │   ├── Improved animation (issue)
│   │   └── Highlight available and unavailable columns (issue)
│   └── ...
├── Lifecycle Boards — Post-GA follow-ups
│   ├── User feedback (issue)
│   ├── Feature flag removal (epic)
│   ├── Old code cleanup (epic)
│   ├── Tests cleanup (epic)
│   └── ...
└── Lifecycle Boards — Out of scope
Last modified April 13, 2026: Add work item types and project example for Product Planning (1c53ac7f)
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