Sometimes an item in the backlog is so complex that an analyst needs extra time to specify it and break it down. Often this involves some user experience design, architectural design, and perhaps experimental design. (My favorite approach to design work is called Scenario-Focused Engineering, which I describe in more detail in Chapter 9.) The design work is a task unto itself, so you make the design work a separate work item on the signboard. The Specify step for design work is breaking down the work into smaller tasks. The Implement step for those tasks is creating the design. The Validate step for those tasks is reviewing the design and getting it signed off. When it’s done, you’ve got a completed design, which then adds several new items to the backlog. Yes, approaching design work as though it were product work is a bit of a stretch. Ideally, you’d use a separate signboard with steps specific to design work. You should do this if a separate team is assigned to design or if you want to use a separate swim lane for design work (more details in Chapter 9). However, using the same signboard for occasional design work does function quite well in practice, and we are Kanban pragmatists. We’re trying to deliver value to our customers in the most efficient manner and with the highest quality possible. If that means altering the done rules occasionally to fit design work instead of product work, so be it.