Using Amplitude for Shape Up
Best-in-class behavioral analytics with powerful event segmentation, funnel analysis, and retention charts that go far deeper than Google Analytics. When combined with Shape Up, this makes Amplitude a strong candidate for teams who want a structured, repeatable workflow without sacrificing flexibility. Shape Up works best in Amplitude when you leverage its core workflow features to implement the framework's key practices directly in the tool your team already lives in.
Shape Up (Basecamp's methodology) works in 6-week cycles with fully shaped pitches — no backlogs, no sprints, no estimates. Teams get the full cycle to solve a problem however they see fit.
How to set up Shape Up in Amplitude
Set up your shaping workspace
Create a dedicated "Shaping" space in Amplitude separate from delivery. Use status labels: Raw Idea, Being Shaped, Ready for Betting, Accepted. Only PMs and shapers have write access to this space during the shaping phase.
Create pitch documents within the tool
In Amplitude, create a card template for pitches that includes custom fields for: Problem statement, Appetite (S/M/L — where L = full 6-week cycle), Solution sketch link, Rabbit holes (known risks to avoid), and No-gos. Link the pitch card to the relevant cycle project when accepted.
Configure 6-week cycle projects
For each cycle, create a project in Amplitude with a hard end date 6 weeks away. Use a list view for tasks. Teams generate their own tasks from the pitch; the PM does not create the task list. No backlog, no sprint planning — only the pitch scope.
Manage the hill chart (progress) and cooldown
Use Amplitude's progress tracking to give a weekly "hill chart" update: which tasks are still unknown (uphill) vs being executed (downhill). At week 6, the cycle ends. Create a cooldown project manually at the end of each cycle.
Which Amplitude features matter for Shape Up
Amplitude has 0 of 2 core Shape Up features natively.