A two-person skunkworks in the transit bureau shipped a weekend bus-bunching alert that riders actually use. Leadership wants it declared the official disruption product tomorrow without extra staffing or a Definition of Done. What should the Product Owner do?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
A garage prototype that works is a gift—until you put the whole city on it with two people and no quality bar. Graduation means real staffing and Done, not a press release. Scale the learning, not the duct tape.
Full Explanation
Successful experiments graduate into official products only with staffing and a quality bar. When a two-person skunkworks in transit ships a weekend bus-bunching alert riders actually use and leadership wants it declared the official disruption product tomorrow without extra staffing or a Definition of Done, the Product Owner should propose graduation only with staffing and a Done bar that protects riders. Leaving it unofficial forever so quality rules never slow the inventors avoids stewardship of a service residents now depend on. Rewriting the experiment as a completed project and closing the Product Backlog pretends learning is finished. Scaling by copying the prototype into every mode—rail, ferry, and paratransit—this Sprint multiplies risk without a quality foundation. Exam caveat: speed of experiments is valuable; promoting an unofficial prototype to official civic service without Done is how outages become policy. Operational check: define Done for disruption alerts, secure staffing for operations, order hardening work on the Product Backlog before multi-mode scale, and inspect reliability and rider trust after graduation. Keep civic stakeholders focused on inspectable outcomes for residents and operators rather than inbox politics or vanity metrics.