Possibilities

Possibilities are an issue type in Jira that Sparkr uses to help you take a structured approach to innovation. A possibility should be something that your customers (i.e. a Persona) would want to solve a problem they are or will experience. Possibilities should be defined and validated before deciding on whether to implement them.

Possibilities and Problems can be related in a 1:1, 1:M and M:M relationship through issue linking provided by Jira.

View

To view a Possibility’s details you must navigate to the Jira issue view for that possibility. To view all Possibilities you can use a filtered search within Jira. The video below shows how to quickly navigate to this view using the Sparkr in-app menu.

Create

There are a number of mechanisms to create Possibilities within your Jira instance and Sparkr:

Jira Global Menu
Jira Boards and Backlogs

Possibilities are an issue type created by Sparkr during the Getting started process and can only be created in Jira projects that have this issue type assigned.

Jira Global Menu

Jira provides a mechanism for creating issues from the Global menu via a popup window, which can be used for creating a Possibility. This window can be shown by clicking the plus (“+”) icon and displays fields as configured by your users and administrators. See Atlassian’s documentation for more information on configuring required fields and screens your users.

After creating a Possibility through this mechanism you can view the Possibility and then input Sparkr details after the fact. Below is a video demonstrating this process and progressing a Possibility through the “Define” and “Validate” stages, so that you can arrive at a decision to move forward or not.

Jira Boards and Backlogs

You can create Possibilities through Jira Boards and Backlogs functionality, just as you would any other issue type. This is a two-step process, as you need to create the Possibility and then edit it to add Sparkr details that underpin your innovation efforts. This can be a great mechanism for collaborative Problem identification and Possibility ideation exercises in a group setting with an interactive board on display.

Update

Once you have created a Possibility, you can update the Sparkr details by clicking on the Sparkr icon. You should complete both the “Define” and “Validate” tabs to help provide enough details for your innovation decision making. Contextual descriptions are provided for fields by hovering over the icon. To save any changes to the Possibilities details you must click the “Update Details” button.

We suggest that the “Definition of Done” for a Possibility is having enough information to answer the final question: Should we implement it? This answer determines if you then move on to implement the idea.

Linking

You can link Problems and Possibilities together to help provide references during your design thinking innovation process. To link either a Problem or Possibility, select “Link issue” when viewing a Problem/Possibility, then select “may solve” or “could be solved by” link type, finally searching for the Problem/Possibility you want to link.

Below is a short video which shows how to link a Problem and Possibility together once you have created them both.

Delete

Please use standard Jira functionality to delete a Possibility issue, refer to Problems guide see how this is completed.