HardDriverz

Postmortem on HardDriverz

This game project was not only my first large-scale team endeavor, but also my first opportunity to serve as lead producer. The role of lead producer comes with a wide array of responsibilities, and here are some of the invaluable lessons I learned that have greatly contributed to both my career and personal growth.

1. Ask the right questions to get to the underlying issues. Early in our project’s development, we struggled with implementing an effective menu system. Stakeholders recommended a specific tool that could potentially resolve some of our challenges, though it required bug fixes to fully integrate. We treated this tool as a silver bullet, and initially focused on resolving its compatibility with the menu’s art direction. However, some team members expressed concerns about how the tool might impact splitscreen functionality. While we thoroughly discussed the art-related technical constraints, we didn’t explore the splitscreen issues in depth. This oversight came back to haunt us later, as splitscreen limitations became a major blocker. This experience taught me the importance of asking the right questions and probing beneath the surface of any proposed solution. Focusing only on immediate symptoms, like the visual design, can obscure deeper technical challenges. By identifying and addressing those hidden concerns early, producers can make well-informed decisions and avoid costly setbacks.

2. Managing a product backlog. It was my first opportunity to work in Jira and take ownership of developing a full backlog. While the early stages were challenging, I saw significant growth in my ability to write clear user stories, define conditions of satisfaction, manage child issues, and handle bug reporting. As the project progressed, I became directly responsible for backlog grooming each sprint. I also supported team leads by reviewing tasks and mentoring them on how to write effective, detailed stories. This hands-on involvement helped reinforce my understanding of Agile principles and solidified my confidence in backlog management as both a technical and collaborative skill.

3. Building trust with communication and positivity. Leading a team of 54 developers and directly interfacing with stakeholders for the first time was both a formative and interesting challenge. It was essential to help the team cultivate trust and build strong communication pipelines, not just internally, but also with our external partners. To support this, I led daily morning announcements to establish clear expectations and daily Scrum of Scrums to ensure consistent alignment among project leads.Throughout this process, I discovered the impact a lead producer’s attitude can have on the entire team. I realized that emotions are contagious, especially during demanding milestones. By staying positive and composed, I aimed to uplift the team and maintain morale, so we could approach each new sprint with energy and confidence.

4. How to create a sprint schedule and milestone delivery document. At the beginning of the project, I underestimated how difficult it would be for a multidisciplinary team to consolidate their work into a fully functioning build. This led to several down-to-the-wire days where the team had to work extra hard to meet our deadlines. While we ultimately pulled through, the experience taught me a critical lesson: clear schedules and concrete deliverables keep teams on track and help eliminate confusion around priorities. Collaborating with the lead team, I developed sprint calendars for the remaining milestones. This significantly reduced the stress that previously emerged in the final hours before major deadlines, as discipline-specific teams were asset-locking on time and with consideration for downstream dependencies. I also created milestone delivery documents that outlined clear objectives for each discipline. These documents strengthened trust within the team and between our stakeholders by reinforcing transparency and alignment.

What I learned producing HardDriverz…