Deck

Plan a Product Initiative from Your Opportunity Backlog

Group two to six backlog opportunities that share one customer problem into a Deck initiative with a clear goal, linked evidence, and written outcomes.

By Matt TeixeiraUpdated

Run it in Deck
Time to Run
30 min
Uses
Initiatives,Opportunity Backlog
You Get
Initiative Plan
Run It
In Deck or with your agent

What Is a Product Initiative?

A product initiative groups two to six related opportunities that share one customer problem under one goal. It holds the evidence from each opportunity, an overview of the problem in customers' words, and the outcomes you expect after the work ships. Projects for those opportunities sit under it, so the roadmap reads as bets, not tickets.

Why Roadmap Bets Drift from the Customer Problem

Your backlog has forty opportunities and the planning meeting wants three bets. So people group them by team or by code area, and the initiative ends up as a list of tickets with a vague goal. Nobody can say which customer problem it solves or how you will know it worked.

How Deck Builds Initiatives from Ranked Evidence

Deck creates an initiative straight from a ranked opportunity, with the title and goal pre-filled and a link back to it. You group the opportunities that share one customer problem, keep the goal to one sentence, and put the Projects under it. The overview, evidence, and outcomes sit on the same page, so the goal stays tied to what customers said.

How to Plan a Product Initiative in Deck

Run it yourself in Deck, or hand it to your AI agent. Same steps, same result.

  1. 01

    Shortlist Opportunities That Share One Problem

    Open Build → Opportunity Backlog and read the ranked list. Pick 2 to 6 opportunities that share one customer problem or one outcome. Open each one and leave out any whose evidence does not match.

  2. 02

    Check for an Existing Initiative

    Open Build → Initiatives, or search the command palette by title or goal. If an initiative already covers the topic, add to it instead of starting a second one.

  3. 03

    Create the Initiative from the Top-Ranked Opportunity

    Open the opportunity with the best rank and choose ⋯ → Create Initiative. Deck pre-fills the title and goal. Name it after the shared outcome, keep the goal to one sentence, and set any target number yourself.

  4. 04

    Write the Overview and Outcomes

    On the Overview tab, write the shared problem in the customers' words, why it matters now, and which opportunities it covers. On the Outcomes tab, write what must change in the feedback when the work ships.

  5. 05

    Put the Projects Under It

    When you create a Project for one of these opportunities from Build → Projects → New Project, link it to the initiative. Opening the initiative then shows all its Projects in one place.

  6. 06

    Set the Status

    On Build → Initiatives, click the status badge in the Status column and pick Exploring while you refine the scope. Keep Archived for initiatives you drop.

Initiative Plan Template

initiative-plan.md
## Initiative
- Title: [Shared outcome, e.g. Faster first report for new admins]
- Goal: [One sentence with the change you want. You set any target number]
- Status: Exploring
## Opportunities (2 to 6)
Opportunity         | Deck impact  | Insights     | Why it belongs  
--------------------|--------------|--------------|-----------------
[Anchor, best rank] | [Deck score] | [Deck count] | [Shared problem]
[Opportunity]       | [Deck score] | [Deck count] | [Reason]        
## Left out
- [Opportunity]: [Why its evidence does not match]
## Overview
- Problem in customers' words: "[Quote]"
- Why now: [Reason]
## Outcomes
- What must change in the feedback: [e.g. fewer negative insights in [Theme]]
## Projects
- [Project]: [Status]
Plain text. Pastes into Docs, Notion, or your agent.23 lines

Frequently Asked Questions

Two to six that share one customer problem or outcome. If you have more, plan a second initiative. Group by the customer problem, not by team or code area.

Yes. On an initiative, Generate with AI takes a topic and writes the Overview and Evidence tabs from your themes, subthemes, insights, NPS responses, and segments.

Yes, when segments are on for your workspace. If an initiative has segments, AI generation uses only feedback from those segments.

No. An opportunity keeps its other links. Moving a Project under a new initiative does replace its current parent initiative, so check that first.

No. The goal is one sentence about the change you want, and you set any target number. Your agent never invents one.

Yes. With Deck MCP connected, paste the prompt on this page. The agent shortlists opportunities, shows you a draft plan, and asks before it creates the initiative. It can also link the other opportunities, add their evidence, and move existing Projects under it.