“Product Trio” Framework
Accelerating Roadmap Clarity Across Squads and Departments.
Challenge
Squads were struggling to align priorities and roadmap decisions, leading to low delivery predictability and unclear ownership.
Approach
I introduced and co-piloted the Product Trio format at Delta Air Lines IT, uniting UX design, product, and engineering leads in recurring, joint planning sessions. First squad began practicing Product Trio in October 2024 as a conversation platform. Another Squad adopted the approach shortly after, further accelerating cross-team alignment.
Outcomes
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By June 2025, the First Squad feature roadmap was built collaboratively and, by August 2025, moved entirely out of individual Product Managers' PowerPoint presentations - signaling a shift from siloed planning to shared accountability. IT and Product Management became equal partners in defining features and timelines.
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The First Squad Shaping and Refinement features delivery predictability improved incrementally: 55% (I1 2025), 66% (I2 2025), reached 100% (I3 2025), and 88% (I4 2025) against an 80% target rate.
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Early organic adoption by a Third Squad at the start of I4 2025 and the Fourth Squad on the way for I1 2026 is showing interest in joining the Product Trio framework demonstrating momentum and peer-driven scalability.
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The framework gave UX, PM, and Engineering a shared understanding of the roadmap before planning started — reducing the discovery overhead that had previously made two-day sessions necessary for a distributed ATL/MSP/GTH team.
Key Learning
A framework doesn't need a mandate to scale — it needs to make people's work easier. Product Trio spread because teams saw the value before anyone asked them to adopt it. The pre-planning shared context was the mechanism; the delivery improvement was the result.
Kirsten Erich
Technical Product Engineer
"Shout out to Alex for taking initiative and keeping our Product Trio 1 (or more) step ahead of our dev team!! Alex introduced our squad to the Product Trio concept, and it's been instrumental in setting our roadmap and preparing Features for development. Today, Alex made sure that we were staying on top of our "analysis & design" phase of Feature development so that we'd be ready for the next Increment. Thank you, Alex!! You rock."
Anonymous
Product Manager
"Alex has been steadfast in his goal of continuous improvement for our squad and out team. As an example, he has championed the "Product Trio" concept with "Squad 1", and it has been a huge success. We've been able to pro-actively build and adapt our roadmap for this product with that group. The best thing about Alex is he shares best practices with other teammates. If he sees something working well (or not working well) he calls it out. I so appreciate Alex's honesty and integrity. Keep it up!"
Growth Opportunity
A recurring challenge with Product Trio meetings is keeping the conversation focused on future roadmap planning rather than drifting into current defects and issues. Recognizing this, TPE’s (Business Analysts) as facilitators are encouraged to set expectations up front and gently redirect the group toward upcoming priorities, ensuring the Trio remains a platform for forward-looking collaboration.