Projects & Products

Products and projects help you organize your work in Xpec. Products represent the main things you're building, while projects group related specifications within those products for better organization and development planning.

Understanding the Hierarchy

Workspace → Products → Projects → Specifications

Workspace

• Your team's home base in Xpec
• Contains all products, team members, and settings
• Billing and subscription management

Products

• Main applications, platforms, or services you're building
• Contains personas, insights, and specifications
• Product-level overview documentation and context
• Examples: "TaskFlow Mobile App", "E-commerce Platform", "Analytics Dashboard"

Projects (Optional)

• Groups of related specifications within a product
• Useful for organizing by development phase, feature area, or timeline
• Examples: "User Authentication Phase", "Core Features", "Mobile MVP"

Specifications

• Individual technical documents describing features or systems
• Can exist standalone or within projects
• Examples: "User Login System", "Shopping Cart API", "Dashboard UI"

Working with Products

Creating Your First Product

1. Navigate to Products - Click "Products" in the main navigation
2. Click "New Product"
3. Fill in Product Details:
   • Name - Clear, descriptive name (e.g., "TaskFlow Mobile App")
   • Description - Brief overview of what you're building
   • Overview (Optional) - Detailed markdown documentation about the product vision, target audience, and goals

Product Features

Product Overview Page

• Statistics - Number of specifications, personas, and insights
• Recent Activity - Latest specifications and team updates
• Quick Actions - Create new specifications, personas, or projects
• Team Access - See who has access to the product

Tabbed Organization

• Overview - Product description and key information
• Specifications - All specifications for this product
• Personas - User personas specific to this product
• Insights - Research findings and user insights
• Projects - Project organization within the product

Product-Level Context

Shared Context Across Specifications

• Personas created at the product level are available to all specifications
• Insights apply across all product specifications
• Consistent product vision and requirements
• Shared technical constraints and decisions

Product Overview Documentation

• Vision statement and product goals
• Target audience and user segments
• High-level product approach and constraints
• Business requirements and constraints
• Market positioning and competitive context

Working with Projects

When to Use Projects

Recommended Use Cases:

• Development Phases - "MVP Phase", "Beta Features", "Post-Launch Enhancements"
• Feature Areas - "User Management", "Core Workflow", "Reporting Features"
• Team Organization - "Frontend Team", "Backend API", "Mobile Team"
• Timeline-Based - "Q1 2024 Features", "Launch Requirements", "Future Enhancements"

When Not to Use Projects:

• Simple products with few specifications
• When specifications don't naturally group together
• Small teams working on everything together

Creating and Managing Projects

Creating a Project

1. Go to your product page
2. Click the "Projects" tab
3. Click "New Project"
4. Fill in project details:
   • Name - Descriptive project name
   • Description - What this project encompasses
   • Knowledge - Implementation knowledge or technical context
   • Instructions - Special instructions for grouped specifications

Project Organization

• Drag and drop specifications between projects
• Move specifications from standalone to project-organized
• Archive completed projects
• Star important projects for quick access

Project Context and Instructions

Knowledge Field

• Feature context and constraints shared across project specifications
• Architecture decisions specific to this project
• Dependencies and constraints
• Integration requirements

Instructions Field

• Special guidelines for AI when generating specifications in this project
• Coding standards or conventions
• Specific frameworks or technologies to use
• Design patterns or architectural principles

Organization Strategies

Product Organization Patterns

By Application Type

• "Web Application" - Browser-based product specifications
• "Mobile App" - iOS and Android specifications
• "API Platform" - Backend service specifications
• "Admin Dashboard" - Internal tool specifications

By User Type

• "Customer Portal" - External user-facing features
• "Admin Interface" - Internal management tools
• "Partner Integration" - B2B integration specifications
• "Support Tools" - Customer service features

By Business Function

• "E-commerce Core" - Shopping, checkout, payments
• "User Management" - Authentication, profiles, permissions
• "Analytics" - Reporting, dashboards, insights
• "Communication" - Notifications, messaging, emails

Project Organization Patterns

Development Phase Organization

Product: TaskFlow Mobile App
├── MVP Foundation
│   ├── User Authentication
│   ├── Basic Task Management
│   └── Core UI Components
├── Beta Features
│   ├── Team Collaboration
│   ├── File Attachments
│   └── Advanced Filters
└── Future Enhancements
    ├── Integrations
    ├── Advanced Analytics
    └── AI Features

Feature Area Organization

Product: E-commerce Platform
├── User Experience
│   ├── Product Catalog
│   ├── Search & Browse
│   └── User Accounts
├── Commerce Engine
│   ├── Shopping Cart
│   ├── Checkout Process
│   └── Payment Integration
└── Business Operations
    ├── Inventory Management
    ├── Order Processing
    └── Analytics Dashboard

Team-Based Organization

Product: Analytics Dashboard
├── Frontend Team
│   ├── Dashboard UI
│   ├── Chart Components
│   └── User Interface
├── Backend Team
│   ├── Data API
│   ├── Processing Engine
│   └── Authentication Service
└── Data Team
    ├── Data Pipeline
    ├── ML Models
    └── Database Schema

Best Practices

Product Planning

Product Definition

• Start with a clear product vision and goals
• Define target users and use cases
• Identify key success metrics
• Document technical constraints and requirements

Product Overview Documentation

• Include product vision and mission
• Define target audience segments
• List key features and capabilities
• Describe product approach and constraints
• Reference market research or competitive analysis

Project Planning

Project Scope Definition

• Group related specifications that share context
• Ensure projects represent meaningful work units
• Avoid projects that are too small or too large
• Consider development team structure and capabilities

Project Knowledge Management

• Document shared technical decisions
• Include relevant architecture patterns
• Reference design systems or style guides
• Note dependencies between specifications

Specification Organization

Choosing Between Standalone and Project-Organized

Use Standalone When:

• Specifications are independent and self-contained
• Product is simple with few related components
• Team is small and works on everything together
• Specifications don't share significant context

Use Projects When:

• Specifications share technical context or dependencies
• Development is organized by team or phase
• Need to track progress across related specifications
• Specifications benefit from shared instructions or knowledge

Team Collaboration

Access Control

Product-Level Access

• All workspace members can access all products
• Consider separate workspaces for highly confidential products
• Use product organization to help team members find relevant work

Collaboration Features

• Real-time specification editing within products
• Comments and discussions on product specifications
• Shared persona and insight libraries
• Team activity tracking across products

Workflow Integration

Development Planning

• Use projects to organize development sprints
• Track specification status across projects
• Plan releases around product milestones
• Coordinate dependencies between specifications

Stakeholder Communication

• Share product overviews with stakeholders
• Export specifications by project for development teams
• Use product context in external communications
• Maintain consistent messaging across all specifications

Advanced Organization Tips

Scaling Your Organization

As Your Team Grows

• Create products for different business units
• Use projects to match development team structure
• Establish naming conventions for consistency
• Regular review and reorganization as needed

As Your Product Portfolio Grows

• Separate products for different customer segments
• Consider workspace separation for major product lines
• Use consistent organization patterns across products
• Maintain clear product boundaries and ownership

Integration with Development Tools

Export and Integration

• Export specifications by project for development tools
• Use project organization in issue tracking systems
• Map projects to code repositories or deployment units
• Maintain traceability from specifications to implementation

Maintenance and Evolution

Regular Reviews

• Review product organization quarterly
• Update project structure as development evolves
• Archive completed projects and products
• Refactor organization as team structure changes

Documentation Updates

• Keep product overviews current with development
• Update project knowledge as decisions evolve
• Maintain consistency between organization and reality
• Document changes in organization strategy

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Over-Organization

Problem: Too many small projects or overly complex structure Solution:

• Combine related small projects
• Simplify organization to match actual workflow
• Focus on projects that add real organizational value
• Consider if standalone specifications are sufficient

Under-Organization

Problem: Everything is standalone, hard to find related work Solution:

• Group related specifications into logical projects
• Create products for major application areas
• Use consistent naming and organizational patterns
• Add product overview documentation for context

Inconsistent Organization

Problem: Different organization patterns across products Solution:

• Establish organization conventions for your workspace
• Document your preferred organization patterns
• Regularly review and standardize organization
• Train team members on organization best practices

Remember: Good organization serves your team's workflow. Start simple and evolve your organization as your products and team grow in complexity.