Avoid the table Anti-Pattern
A rigid table pattern removes the strengths of the Information Product Canvas and Workshop
One of the simply magical aspects of the Information Product Canvas is its ability to help stakeholders quickly recognise and understand complex ideas through its simple, visual format.
The canvas creates a shared, visual space where complexity becomes simplicity and collaboration flows naturally. A canvas format is not just a tool for capturing data requirements, it is a visual thinking pattern that fosters discussion, alignment, and deeper understanding.
However, data teams often fall into a common trap, they convert the canvas into a structured table or document. Data professionals naturally gravitate toward structure, favouring memo-style templates, tables, spreadsheets, or other fixed formats. While these approaches may feel familiar and organised, they unintentionally break the canvas’s natural flow of collaboration and simplicity.
In an effort to streamline processes, data teams also attempt to introduce automation using tools like Jira to capture these initial requirements. Sometimes, they go a step further by asking stakeholders to fill out Jira forms independently, removing collaboration entirely. While automation is a valuable principle that reduces manual work and increases efficiency, it can lead to anti-patterns when applied too early or incorrectly, especially in the early stages of ideation and requirement discovery.
These anti-patterns undermine the core purpose of the canvas, creating a shared understanding through collaborative, visual thinking. The canvas pattern works because it keeps people at the centre of the process, it is designed for people, not for systems. Converting it into a Jira table or asking stakeholders to complete a structured form in isolation turns a flexible, human centric process into a rigid, mechanical one. This shift kills collaboration and leads to misaligned expectations and understanding.
A rigid table pattern removes the strengths of the Information Product Canvas and Workshop.
Breaks the visual flow
The canvas format works because it’s visual, freeform, and easy to follow. Tables and forms reduce this to a rigid list of fields, removing the clarity and engagement visual layouts provide.
Stifles collaboration
The workshop thrives on open dialogue and shared problem-solving. Seeing ideas take shape on a canvas keeps stakeholders engaged, while a Jira table feels like bureaucracy, not collaboration.
Encourages a “Tick-the-Box” mentality
A table format shifts focus from understanding the problem to simply completing the form, moving stakeholders from critical thinking to just “filling in the blanks”.
Misses the nuances
Workshops often surface hidden requirements, but rigid tables fail to capture these subtleties, leading to incomplete or misaligned requirements.