Using Trello for Shape Up
Extremely intuitive drag-and-drop Kanban interface — virtually zero learning curve, new users productive within minutes. When combined with Shape Up, this makes Trello a strong candidate for teams who want a structured, repeatable workflow without sacrificing flexibility. Shape Up works best in Trello when you leverage its custom workflows 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 Trello
Set up your shaping workspace
Create a dedicated "Shaping" space in Trello separate from delivery. Configure a custom workflow: Raw Idea → Being Shaped → Ready for Betting → Accepted → Cycle. Only PMs and shapers have write access to this space during the shaping phase.
Create pitch documents within the tool
In Trello, 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 Trello with a hard end date 6 weeks away. Use a Kanban board with columns: To Do, In Progress, Needs Review, Done — Shape Up teams self-organise tasks, so keep the board flexible. No backlog, no sprint planning — only the pitch scope.
Manage the hill chart (progress) and cooldown
Use Trello'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. Configure a "Cooldown" project template where teams file bugs, explore ideas, and clean up technical debt during the 2-week break.
Which Trello features matter for Shape Up
Trello has 1 of 2 core Shape Up features natively.