• Jun 24, 2025
How Unpixel streamlined its project management workflow
Unpixel cut cycle time by 34% in eight weeks by standardising intake, automating handoffs, and giving teams real-time visibility across tools. Here's the playbook they used — and how you can adapt it to your stack.
Claire Donovan, CFA
Jun 24, 2025
1. Standardise Intake and Definitions of Done
Before: work arrived via chats, emails, and ad-hoc pings. After: one intake form creates a ticket with owner, due date, estimate, and a clear DoD.
- Single queue: requests funnel into one backlog with tags (team, objective, priority).
- Duplicate control: near-match detection bounces duplicate asks.
- DoD templates: per-work-type checklists (e.g., blog, feature, bug) ensure consistent quality.
How to act
- Map your top 5 request types and write a crisp DoD for each.
- Route everything through the same form for 30 days; measure noise reduction.
- Review bounced requests weekly to refine choices and language.
Tip: Don’t add tools first. Fix naming, states, and owners — then wire in automation.
2. Automate Handoffs and Surface Flow
Rules move tickets, attach templates, and ping the next owner so work never sits idle.
- Stage transitions: moving to “Ready” triggers the right reviewers.
- SLAs: if a ticket waits >24h in a column, the current owner gets nudged.
- Portfolio view: objectives roll up to status and risk in a single board.
IF stage = "Design" AND status = "Ready"
THEN request_approval(reviewer="UX Lead") AND set_due(48h)
ELSE IF blocked_for > 24h
THEN escalate_to = "PM"