This article will help you determine the structure and taxonomy of the Product Areas and Domains you can configure in Bagel AI
Guidelines: Deciding on the right structure and taxonomy
1. Choosing the right Domains
Domains are used for high level categorization in Product organizations reponsible for a high scale and complex platform, typically with dozens of Product Areas (and potentially 100s of sub-areas). Domains can be of different kinds, for example:
Product - vertical: The main applications which comprise the entire product platform
Product - horizontal: e.g. Main app, Reporting, Integrations, Compliance etc.
Business Units: e.g. Enterprise, SMB etc.
Choose Domains that:
Are high level: between 2 - 15. Ideally less than 10
Have common and familiar names to both Product and GTM teams
Have a named owner, typically a Product leader who manage other PMs or a key horizontal part of the platform
2. Choosing the right Product Areas and Sub Areas
Product Areas are subset of the application within a Domain (or within the entire Platform in smaller teams) that represents a high level flow or a use case.
Sub areas are granular flows or sections in a given Product Area.
Choose Product Areas that:
Have a clear owner, typically a Product Manager
Will include a set of features, capabilities and product requests with a clear common denominator
Represent a high level use case or product flow that is common and familiar to both Product and GTM teams
Choose Sub Areas that:
Represent very specific flows, use cases or JTBDs
May be considered as a key area for prioritization as a whole (e.g. important for the company's KPIs/OKRs)
Recommended: owned by the same person who owns the parent Product Area
TIP - Horizontal themes such as UX, Export etc. are sometimes tough to decide on. The thumb rule is to put them where the ownership is:
If the PM who owns the Product Area is also responsible for prioritizing this feedback, then insert them as sub-area under that area. For example: "Agent Console -> Agent Console UX"
If there is someone dedicate to prioritize the theme horizontally, then insert it as a separate area which can have the other applications as sub areas. For example: "UX -> Agent Console UX"
How to configure Product Areas and Domains
Create Domains
If Domains are needed, you can add them at the bottom
Make sure you assign a PM Leader as an owner for each Domain
If Domains are not needed (see guidelines), then create a single domain with the name of your company or platform
Create Product Areas and Sub areas
Click on "Add Area" to add a new Product Area
Create hierarchy: You can turn a Product Area into a Sub Area by clicking the right arrow
Make sure you assign a PM as an owner for each area
Assign the Domain of each Product Area