Not All Surprises Are True Unknowns
Many product development surprises stem from poor backlog management, not true unknowns. Regular refinement and reflection help teams anticipate and …
TL;DR; You cannot know everything upfront in software development, so focus on continuous discovery and adapt as you learn. Scrum supports this by encouraging just enough planning and design to move forward, then delivering and learning from real use. Prioritise delivery and feedback over excessive upfront design to create more value.

One of the biggest fallacies in software is the belief that you can know everything upfront. That’s why some teams try to carve out “Design Sprints” to feel more in control.
But real product development doesn’t work like that. Discovery is continuous. Ideas evolve. Assumptions break. Value emerges through use.
That’s why Scrum embraces uncertainty. Refinement is your chance to explore future work just enough to be ready, without wasting time planning things that might never happen.
Build just enough design to support delivery. Then deliver. Get telemetry. Learn. Repeat.
If you’re spending more time designing than delivering, you’re likely optimising the wrong part of the system.
Each classification [Concepts, Categories, & Tags] was assigned using AI-powered semantic analysis and scored across relevance, depth, and alignment. Final decisions? Still human. Always traceable. Hover to see how it applies.
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We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.

Capita Secure Information Solutions Ltd

Alignment Healthcare

Akaditi
CR2

Epic Games

Big Data for Humans

Slicedbread

ALS Life Sciences

Philips

Emerson Process Management

MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd.

Xceptor - Process and Data Automation

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New Signature

Genus Breeding Ltd

ProgramUtvikling

Brandes Investment Partners L.P.

YearUp.org

Department of Work and Pensions (UK)

Washington Department of Enterprise Services

Washington Department of Transport

Ghana Police Service

Royal Air Force

New Hampshire Supreme Court

Illumina

Slicedbread

Xceptor - Process and Data Automation

Alignment Healthcare

Healthgrades

Philips