Handbook
External reference URLs (PDLC approach guides)
Curated list of https targets cited in PDLC approach guides (blueprint) and in PDLC ↔ SDLC bridge. When you change a URL in Markdown, update the matching approach guide's "Authoritative sources" section.
Each row includes an executive summary: what the link is and why this blueprint points to it, so readers can decide whether to open it.
Product management & discovery
| Topic | URL | Executive summary (why it's linked here) |
|---|---|---|
| Marty Cagan — SVPG (Inspired / Empowered) | https://www.svpg.com/inspired-how-to-create-tech-products-customers-love/ | Foundational text on modern product management: product trio, discovery, empowered teams. Philosophical anchor for PDLC thinking about outcomes over outputs. |
| Marty Cagan — Dual-Track Agile | https://www.svpg.com/dual-track-agile/ | Origin framing for running discovery and delivery in parallel — defines why the product trio co-owns discovery alongside engineering delivery. |
| SVPG — Product Discovery | https://www.svpg.com/product-discovery/ | Collection of articles on discovery practices — risk assessment, opportunity assessment, prototyping — from the SVPG team. |
| Teresa Torres — Continuous Discovery Habits | https://www.producttalk.org/2021/08/continuous-discovery-habits/ | Practical framework for weekly discovery: opportunity solution trees, interview cadence, assumption mapping. Operationalizes PDLC P1–P2 as ongoing practice. |
| Teresa Torres — Opportunity Solution Trees | https://www.producttalk.org/2023/12/opportunity-solution-trees/ | Canonical source for the OST framework — visual structure connecting outcomes → opportunities → solutions → experiments. |
| Product Talk (blog) | https://www.producttalk.org/ | Blog and community from Teresa Torres — ongoing articles on discovery, experimentation, and product trio practices. |
| Melissa Perri — Escaping the Build Trap | https://melissaperri.com/book | Diagnosis and cure for organizations that ship features without validating outcomes — directly addresses the "SDLC without PDLC" anti-pattern. |
| Mind the Product | https://www.mindtheproduct.com/ | Community hub for product management: conferences, articles, and frameworks — neutral background for PDLC vocabulary. |
| Product School — Resources | https://productschool.com/blog | Practitioner content on product management — OSTs, discovery, metrics, team structures. |
Lean Startup & experimentation
| Topic | URL | Executive summary (why it's linked here) |
|---|---|---|
| Eric Ries — The Lean Startup | http://theleanstartup.com/ | Canonical text defining Build-Measure-Learn, MVP, validated learning, pivot/persevere. The reference for hypothesis-driven product development. |
| Steve Blank — Customer Development | https://steveblank.com/category/customer-development/ | Precursor framework to Lean Startup: Customer Discovery → Validation → Creation → Building. Business-model-validation layer. |
| Ash Maurya — Running Lean / Lean Stack | https://leanstack.com/running-lean-book | Practitioner playbook for applying Lean Startup — Lean Canvas, experiment design, metrics that matter. |
| Jeff Gothelf — Lean UX | https://www.jeffgothelf.com/lean-ux-book/ | UX + Lean Startup integration — hypotheses, experiments, outcomes in Agile teams. Bridges design practice with delivery. |
| Jeff Patton — Dual Track Development | https://www.jpattonassociates.com/dual-track-development/ | Practical guidance on separating learning work from building work — visual models for dual-track implementation. |
Design Thinking
| Topic | URL | Executive summary (why it's linked here) |
|---|---|---|
| IDEO — Design Thinking | https://designthinking.ideo.com/ | Origin framework — Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test. Defines human-centered design principles used in PDLC P1–P2. |
| Stanford d.school | https://dschool.stanford.edu/ | Academic anchor for Design Thinking education — process guides, teaching materials, and the "bootcamp bootleg" toolkit. |
| British Design Council — Double Diamond | https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-resources/the-double-diamond/ | Double Diamond model — canonical visualization of diverge/converge across problem and solution spaces. |
| Nielsen Norman Group — Design Thinking | https://www.nngroup.com/articles/design-thinking/ | Evidence-based practitioner summary of when Design Thinking works and its limitations. |
Agile product delivery (vendor context)
| Topic | URL | Executive summary (why it's linked here) |
|---|---|---|
| Atlassian — Product development | https://www.atlassian.com/agile/product-management/product-development | Practitioner overview of product development in an Agile context — complements Forge’s PDLC ↔ SDLC bridge for software teams. |
Stage-Gate & governance
| Topic | URL | Executive summary (why it's linked here) |
|---|---|---|
| Stage-Gate International | https://www.stage-gate.com/ | Official Stage-Gate body of knowledge — Robert Cooper's framework, 5th-generation updates, research. Authority for gate criteria and stage definitions. |
| Stage-Gate — Discovery-to-launch process | https://www.stage-gate.com/about/stage-gate-innovation-performance-framework/discovery-to-launch-process/ | Discovery-to-launch framing from Stage-Gate International — aligns with gated NPD vocabulary used alongside Forge P1–P6. |
| 5th-Generation Stage-Gate Model | https://www.stage-gate.com/about/5th-generation-stage-gate-model/ | Current evolution: iterative stages, Agile integration, lean gates, adaptive governance. Addresses historical rigidity criticism. |
| PDMA — Product Development and Management Association | https://community.pdma.org/ | Practitioner community for product development — research, benchmarking, and Stage-Gate updates from Robert Cooper. |
Product lifecycle & growth
| Topic | URL | Executive summary (why it's linked here) |
|---|---|---|
| ProductPlan — Product development cycle | https://www.productplan.com/glossary/product-development-cycle/ | Definition overview of the product development cycle — helps teams compare generic phase language to Forge P1–P6 without claiming one global standard. |
| ProductPlan — Product Lifecycle | https://productplan.com/glossary/product-lifecycle/ | Clear overview of lifecycle stages (Introduction, Growth, Maturity, Decline) with strategic implications. Starting reference for PLM. |
| ProductPlan — End-of-Life | https://productplan.com/learn/how-to-end-of-life-product/ | Practical checklist for product retirement — communications, migration, support wind-down. Informs P6 sunset planning. |
| Product Marketing Alliance — Sunsetting | https://productmarketingalliance.com/how-to-sunset-product-complete-guide-examples/ | Complete guide with real examples of product sunset strategies — phased approach, stakeholder management. |
| Reforge — Growth Series | https://www.reforge.com/growth-series | Growth frameworks for post-launch: acquisition, activation, retention, revenue, referral. Deepens P5 Grow. |
| DORA — State of DevOps | https://dora.dev/ | Delivery metrics research (DORA four key metrics) — the SDLC side of the metrics comparison in the bridge document. |
Quick verification (maintainers)
From a shell, expect HTTP 200 (some sites return 301 then 200 when following redirects):
urls=(
https://www.svpg.com/inspired-how-to-create-tech-products-customers-love/
https://www.producttalk.org/2021/08/continuous-discovery-habits/
http://theleanstartup.com/
https://designthinking.ideo.com/
https://www.stage-gate.com/
https://www.stage-gate.com/about/stage-gate-innovation-performance-framework/discovery-to-launch-process/
https://productplan.com/glossary/product-lifecycle/
https://www.productplan.com/glossary/product-development-cycle/
https://www.atlassian.com/agile/product-management/product-development
https://dora.dev/
https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-resources/the-double-diamond/
)
for u in "${urls[@]}"; do
printf '%s ' "$(curl -sS -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' -L --max-time 15 "$u")"
echo "$u"
done
Expand the array with any new links before merging doc changes.