Feature Categories Management

Overview

This document defines how we organize, categorize, and maintain features in our SaaS CRM application for better tracking and management.

Category Hierarchy

Three-Level Structure

Level 1: Domain
  └── Level 2: Category
      └── Level 3: Feature (Leaf)

Example Hierarchy

Sales
├── Lead Management
│   ├── Lead Capture
│   ├── Lead Scoring
│   └── Lead Assignment
├── Opportunity Management
│   ├── Pipeline Visualization
│   ├── Deal Tracking
│   └── Forecasting
└── Quote Management
    ├── Quote Generation
    ├── Quote Templates
    └── Quote Approval

Domain Categories

1. Sales Domain

Sales:
  description: "Features supporting sales processes"
  owner: "Sales Product Manager"
  categories:
    - Lead Management
    - Opportunity Management
    - Quote Management
    - Territory Management
    - Commission Tracking

2. Marketing Domain

Marketing:
  description: "Features for marketing automation"
  owner: "Marketing Product Manager"
  categories:
    - Campaign Management
    - Email Marketing
    - Landing Pages
    - Lead Nurturing
    - Marketing Analytics

3. Customer Service Domain

Customer Service:
  description: "Support and service features"
  owner: "Service Product Manager"
  categories:
    - Ticket Management
    - Knowledge Base
    - Live Chat
    - Customer Portal
    - SLA Management

4. Analytics Domain

Analytics:
  description: "Reporting and analytics features"
  owner: "Analytics Product Manager"
  categories:
    - Dashboards
    - Reports
    - Data Visualization
    - Predictive Analytics
    - Data Export

5. Platform Domain

Platform:
  description: "Core platform capabilities"
  owner: "Platform Product Manager"
  categories:
    - User Management
    - Security
    - Integrations
    - API
    - Workflow Automation

6. Mobile Domain

Mobile:
  description: "Mobile application features"
  owner: "Mobile Product Manager"
  categories:
    - iOS App
    - Android App
    - Mobile Web
    - Offline Capabilities
    - Push Notifications

Feature Classification

Feature Attributes

## Feature Definition

**ID**: CRM-F-001
**Name**: Lead Scoring
**Domain**: Sales
**Category**: Lead Management
**Type**: Core Feature
**Status**: Released
**Owner**: John Doe
**Dependencies**: [CRM-F-002, CRM-F-003]
**Tags**: [AI, Automation, Premium]

### Description
Automatically score leads based on behavior and demographics.

### Metrics
- Usage: 78% of customers
- Performance: <500ms response
- Revenue Impact: $250K ARR

Feature Types

Type	Description	Examples
Core	Essential functionality	Login, CRUD operations
Premium	Paid add-on features	Advanced analytics, AI
Beta	Experimental features	New capabilities testing
Legacy	Deprecated but supported	Old UI, v1 API
Partner	Third-party integrations	Slack, Salesforce

Feature Status

stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Proposed: New idea
    Proposed --> Approved: Approved for development
    Proposed --> Rejected: Not pursuing
    Approved --> InDevelopment: Work started
    InDevelopment --> Testing: Development complete
    Testing --> Beta: Limited release
    Beta --> Released: General availability
    Released --> Deprecated: Phasing out
    Deprecated --> Retired: No longer available
    Retired --> [*]
    Rejected --> [*]

Category Management

Category Lifecycle

1. Category Creation

## New Category Request

**Domain**: Sales
**Category Name**: Social Selling
**Justification**: Growing customer demand for social integration
**Parent Category**: Sales
**Proposed Features**:
- LinkedIn Integration
- Twitter Monitoring
- Social Lead Capture

**Impact Analysis**:
- Estimated Users: 30% of base
- Development Effort: 6 months
- Revenue Potential: $500K ARR

2. Category Modification

Reasons for Modification: - Market changes - Customer feedback - Strategic pivot - Technology evolution - Regulatory requirements

3. Category Deprecation

Deprecation Process: 1. Identify affected features 2. Notify stakeholders 3. Plan migration path 4. Communicate to customers 5. Archive documentation

Category Ownership

Domain	Owner Role	Responsibilities
Sales	Sales PM	Feature prioritization, roadmap
Marketing	Marketing PM	Campaign features, automation
Service	Service PM	Support tools, customer experience
Analytics	Analytics PM	Reporting, insights
Platform	Platform PM	Infrastructure, integrations
Mobile	Mobile PM	App features, mobile experience

Feature Taxonomy

Tagging System

Business Tags

revenue-driver - Direct revenue impact
cost-reducer - Reduces operational costs
compliance - Regulatory requirement
competitive - Competitive differentiation
customer-requested - High customer demand

Technical Tags

api - API-related feature
ui - User interface feature
performance - Performance improvement
security - Security enhancement
integration - Third-party integration

User Tags

admin-only - Administrator feature
end-user - End user feature
power-user - Advanced user feature
mobile - Mobile-specific
desktop - Desktop-specific

Feature Dependencies

graph TD
    A[User Authentication] --> B[User Management]
    B --> C[Role-Based Access]
    C --> D[Permission Management]
    A --> E[Single Sign-On]
    E --> F[SAML Integration]
    E --> G[OAuth Integration]

Maintenance Process

Regular Review Cycle

Monthly Review

New feature categorization
Status updates
Owner verification
Dependency check

Quarterly Review

Category performance analysis
Restructuring evaluation
Deprecation candidates
Strategic alignment

Annual Review

Complete taxonomy audit
Major restructuring
Strategic planning alignment
Technology stack evaluation

Feature Audit Checklist

Reporting & Analytics

Category Metrics

## Category Performance Report

**Category**: Lead Management
**Period**: Q1 2025

### Usage Metrics
- Active Features: 12
- Customer Adoption: 89%
- Daily Active Users: 5,234

### Development Metrics
- Features in Development: 3
- Features Released: 2
- Bug Rate: 0.3 per feature

### Business Metrics
- Revenue Attribution: $2.3M ARR
- Support Tickets: 145 (2% of total)
- Customer Satisfaction: 4.3/5.0

### Recommendations
- Invest in lead scoring improvements
- Consider AI-powered features
- Address mobile experience gaps

Feature Distribution

## Feature Distribution Analysis

### By Domain
- Sales: 45 features (28%)
- Marketing: 35 features (22%)
- Service: 30 features (19%)
- Analytics: 25 features (16%)
- Platform: 20 features (12%)
- Mobile: 5 features (3%)

### By Status
- Released: 120 features (75%)
- In Development: 20 features (13%)
- Beta: 10 features (6%)
- Deprecated: 10 features (6%)

### By Type
- Core: 80 features (50%)
- Premium: 40 features (25%)
- Partner: 30 features (19%)
- Beta: 10 features (6%)

Integration with Other Systems

System Mappings

System	Integration Point	Data Flow
Jira	Feature tracking	Bi-directional sync
GitHub	Code mapping	Feature → Repository
Analytics	Usage tracking	Feature → Metrics
Billing	Feature flags	Category → Pricing
Support	Ticket routing	Feature → Team

API Structure

{
  "feature": {
    "id": "CRM-F-001",
    "name": "Lead Scoring",
    "domain": "Sales",
    "category": "Lead Management",
    "type": "Premium",
    "status": "Released",
    "owner": "john.doe@company.com",
    "tags": ["AI", "Automation"],
    "metrics": {
      "adoption": 0.78,
      "performance": 450,
      "revenue": 250000
    }
  }
}

Feature Flags

Flag Management

feature_flags:
  lead_scoring:
    enabled: true
    rollout_percentage: 100
    environments: ["production", "staging"]
    customer_overrides:
      - customer_id: "ENT-001"
        enabled: true
      - customer_id: "SMB-100"
        enabled: false

Flag Categories

Category	Purpose	Example
Release	Gradual rollout	New feature launch
Experiment	A/B testing	UI variations
Operational	Kill switch	Emergency disable
Permission	Access control	Premium features

Documentation Standards

Feature Documentation Template

# Feature: [Name]

## Overview
Brief description of the feature

## Category Information
- Domain: [Domain]
- Category: [Category]
- Type: [Core/Premium/Beta]
- Status: [Status]

## User Guide
How to use this feature

## Technical Details
Implementation notes

## Configuration
Settings and options

## API Reference
Endpoints and parameters

## Metrics
KPIs and tracking

## Support
Common issues and solutions

## Changelog
Version history

Best Practices

Categorization Guidelines

Consistency: Use established categories
Granularity: Not too broad, not too narrow
Clarity: Clear, descriptive names
Uniqueness: No overlapping categories
Scalability: Room for growth

Naming Conventions

Domain: PascalCase (e.g., CustomerService)
Category: PascalCase (e.g., TicketManagement)
Feature: Descriptive name (e.g., Automated Ticket Assignment)
ID: PREFIX-TYPE-NUMBER (e.g., CRM-F-001)

Review Questions

Does this feature fit existing categories?
Is the category at the right level?
Are dependencies properly mapped?
Is ownership clearly defined?
Are metrics being tracked?

Last Updated: January 2025 Version: 1.0.0