Outcomes

An outcome is a named group of cards. It answers “which cards belong together, and why.” Outcomes are how you say “these three stories are the user onboarding journey” or “this set of features is the MVP.”

Two modes

Outcomes come in two modes, and both can coexist on the same board:

1. Geometric outcomes are anchored to a divider. The divider’s region defines what’s in — drop a card into the region, it joins; move it out, it leaves. The divider’s label is the outcome’s name; rename one, the other follows.
2. Drawer-only outcomes have no spatial anchor. You hand-pick which cards belong, from the Outcomes drawer. There’s no region on the canvas; the grouping is purely by membership.

The two-mode design is intentional. Geometric outcomes are right when the grouping is visually obvious (a release lane, a process step, a canvas zone). Drawer-only outcomes are right when the grouping cuts across the layout — “everything that touches billing,” or “the cards I’m demoing Friday.”

A card can belong to multiple outcomes; there’s no exclusivity. A single card can be in both the “MVP” outcome (geometric, anchored to a release lane) and the “Demo Friday” outcome (drawer-only).

When you delete a divider that has cards in its outcome, the outcome converts to drawer-only and keeps its name and members. The geometric link is gone; the named group survives.

Note

Outcomes replaced “Journeys” in earlier CardBoard. Journeys were always anchored to a release lane on a story map; outcomes work on any map type and add the drawer-only mode.

Caution

• Don’t delete a drawer-only outcome when you only want to change its members. Remove the cards you don’t want — deletion is permanent; membership is editable.
• Don’t assume outcomes are always geometric. The drawer is first-class.