Product areas

Product Areas help product teams segment their work by categories—so squads or groups can be owners of different areas like Billing, User Management, Integrations, API, and more.

This new feature allows you to define two levels:

1. Category (top-level area, e.g., “Infrastructure”)

2. Product Area (nested sub-area inside the category, e.g., “APIs”)

With Product Areas, your entire team will have a clearer picture of who owns which part of the product—and what needs attention. 🎉

Setting Up Product Areas

1. Access Your Workspace

• Go to Settings in your Cycle workspace.

• Click on Product Areas (see screenshot placeholder [Image 1]).

2. Add a Category

• Click Add Category.

• Name your category (e.g., “Platform” or “Core Services”).

• Save changes (screenshot placeholder [Image 2]).

3. Add Product Areas Under a Category

• Select the category you just created.

• Click Add Product Area.

• Name your new product area (e.g., “User Management,” “Analytics,” etc.).

• (screenshot placeholder [Image 3]).

4. Assign Owners & Permissions (Optional)

• Choose the squad, product manager, or lead who’ll own each product area.

• Adjust permissions or visibility if needed.

5. Review & Organize

• Ensure everything is grouped logically under the right category.

• Repeat the process if you want to create more categories or product areas.

Quick Tip: Make Your Product Areas MECE

“MECE” stands for Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive. This is a common approach in product management to ensure:

• Mutually Exclusive: Each product area is distinct—no overlap or confusion about ownership.

• Collectively Exhaustive: All relevant product parts are covered; no gaps in coverage.

This helps keep the segmentation of your product clean and ensures every part of your product has an owner. When defining your categories and product areas, ask:

• “Does each product area cover something unique?”

• “Have we covered all the main functionality?”

Best Practices for Defining Product Areas

• Mirror Your Team Structure: Create categories that match how squads or product groups are naturally organized (e.g., “Billing & Payments,” “User Services,” etc.).

• Keep Names Clear & Actionable: Use concise titles that convey the purpose of each area (e.g., “Onboarding” rather than “User Start Stuff”).

• Update Over Time: If a squad’s focus changes, revisit your Product Areas to keep things accurate.

• Leverage Permissions: If certain areas are sensitive (like billing), ensure only the relevant squad has access or editing privileges.

Need More Help?

• Check out our Product Areas FAQ for troubleshooting.

• Reach out to our support team via contact form.

• (screenshot placeholder [Image 4]).

We hope Product Areas will help you bring more clarity and accountability to your product planning. Enjoy exploring—and keep shipping great features! 🚀