Speedboat — Jira Board Configuration Guide

Overview

This guide shows the easiest way to run Speedboat in Jira without admin access.

The default recommendation is:

• Use a Kanban board
• Scope the board to one team label
• Keep normal Jira columns such as To Do / In Progress / Done
• Use labels to distinguish Preview, Build, Run, and Landings

This is enough to start the model well. You do not need custom fields, custom workflows, or a dedicated Jira project for Week 1.

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Recommended setup

If you want Speedboat to be easy to adopt, use this setup:

• One board label for team membership, for example speedboat-teamname
• One work-type label on each issue: preview, build, or run
• Optional labels where helpful: landing, discovery, demo
• One shared Landing Log outside Jira

This gives you four benefits immediately:

• No Jira admin dependency
• No workflow redesign
• Easy team-level scoping
• Fast adoption this week

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Step 1: Create the board

When Jira asks whether to use Scrum or Kanban, choose Kanban.

Speedboat is continuous flow with a weekly steering rhythm. It is not sprint-based.

What to choose on the board creation screen

For most teams, choose Label.

Use one label that means “this issue belongs on our Speedboat board”, for example:

• speedboat-personalize
• speedboat-analytics

Then add that label to every issue that should appear on the board.

If your team already has a clean project boundary, All work items from your space can also work. But Label is the safest default when multiple teams share one Jira project.

Naming the board

Use a simple name such as:

• Speedboat - Personalize
• Speedboat - Analytics

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Step 2: Keep the columns simple

Use normal Jira flow columns:

• To Do
• In Progress
• Done

You do not need special Speedboat columns to begin.

The columns answer: where is this work in execution?

The labels answer: what kind of work is this in the Speedboat model?

If your existing Jira workflow has extra statuses, map them into those three broad columns rather than redesigning the workflow up front.

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Step 3: Use labels for the Speedboat model

Add one of these labels to every issue on the board:

• preview
• build
• run

Optional labels:

• landing when something reached a meaningful outcome this week
• discovery for Discovery Previews
• demo for Demo Previews

Recommended label rules

• Every issue should have exactly one of preview, build, or run
• Use landing only when the outcome has actually been reached
• Remove landing after the week ends if you only want it for temporary visibility, or keep it if you want historical filtering

Example:

• speedboat-teamname, build
• speedboat-teamname, preview, discovery
• speedboat-teamname, run

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Step 4: Configure swimlanes

If your Jira board supports query swimlanes, use them.

This is the easiest way to visualise Preview / Build / Run without changing workflows.

Create these swimlanes:

Preview

labels = speedboat-teamname AND labels = preview

Build

labels = speedboat-teamname AND labels = build

Run

labels = speedboat-teamname AND labels = run

If your board filter already scopes to speedboat-teamname, you can shorten these to:

labels = preview

labels = build

labels = run

What about Land?

Do not make Land a normal swimlane for everyday work.

Land is not where work sits. It is what you log when work reaches a meaningful outcome.

If useful, you can create a temporary quick filter for:

labels = landing

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Step 5: Add quick filters

Useful quick filters on the board:

Label	JQL
Preview only	labels = preview
Build only	labels = build
Run only	labels = run
Landings this week	labels = landing
Discovery Previews	labels = preview AND labels = discovery
Demo Previews	labels = preview AND labels = demo

If your board is not already scoped by the team label, add it into each query.

Example:

labels = speedboat-teamname AND labels = preview

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Step 6: First-week operating advice

If you need to start this week, the minimum is:

• Add the team label to all in-scope existing work
• Add one work-type label to each issue: preview, build, or run
• Pick 1-2 issues most likely to become Landings this week
• Start the ceremonies
• Log Landings in the Landing Log

Do not wait for:

• custom fields
• workflow changes
• dashboards
• automation
• backlog cleanup

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Optional: fuller setup later

If the trial works and you want better reporting later, you can add:

• custom fields for category, preview type, landing type, and run type
• more precise JQL filters and dashboards
• explicit Preview / Build / Land statuses
• automation for Promoted / Landed transitions

But none of that is required to prove the model.

Done!

If the board shows the right team’s work, each issue has a Speedboat label, and the team can run Set Course / Course Check / The Landing, you are ready to start.