How to read and interpret labels for TDM - hackforla/tdm-calculator GitHub Wiki

Introduction

Labels are key to keeping our project organized.

Each label provides a small piece of information that quickly summarizes the content of an issue before it’s even read.

The labels are most used by product managers who need to prioritize and volunteers looking for their next issue to work on.

Understanding the purpose of each label is a responsibility shared by the entire team.

This guide introduces our labeling system, explains how to read labels.

Information about each label can be found below:

Name: the name of a label
Description: The official description of the label

📌 Label Categories

Click to See All Label Categories

Role Series – Who the issue is for
Feature Series – Broad system-level functionality
P-Feature Series – Specific pages or UI components
Priority Series – Importance of the task
Level Series – Technical difficulty
Size Series – Estimated effort (in points and hours)
Deck Series – Slide deck the issue appears in (Presentation or staging)
Missing Series – All missing label indicators
Ready For Series – Whether an issue is ready for a team lead and/or an action
Dependency – Whether another issue must be completed first

🎭 The Role Series

These labels identify the role responsible for an issue. They're especially useful when you're:

Searching for tasks in your area of expertise
Assigning or triaging issues by team
Reviewing which team members should be involved

Label format: Role: [Team or Responsibility]

Click to see Role series label examples

Role: UX/UI Research Lead – UX research leadership
Role: UX/UI Research – User research
Role: UX/UI Design – Interface design
Role: UX Content Writing – UX writing
Role: Dev Lead – Development lead tasks
Role: Backend/DevOps – Backend or DevOps engineering
Role: Frontend – Frontend development
Role: Product Management – Product or project management

⚙️ The Feature Series

These labels describe the broader system or project area the issue involves. They're useful for identifying cross-functional work, infrastructure needs, or global project concerns.

Label format: Feature: [System or Topic]

Click to see Feature series label examples

Feature: Accessibility – Accessibility improvements
Feature: DevOps – Infrastructure and CI/CD
Feature: Wiki – Documentation updates
Feature: Recruiting – Hiring and outreach
Feature: Analytics – Metrics and tracking
Feature: Style Guide – Visual design standards
Feature: Code Clean Up – Refactoring or linting
Feature: Security Testing – Vulnerability assessments
Feature: Team Instructions – Team workflow guidance
Feature: Spelling – Minor typo fixes

🧩 The P-Feature Series

These labels refer to specific screens or components in the TDM Calculator. Use them to identify issues related to individual pages or reusable interface elements.

Label format: P-Feature: [Page or Component]

Click to see P-Feature series label examples

P-Feature: Header – Global navigation header
P-Feature: Footer – Universal footer
P-Feature: FAQ Screen – FAQ page
P-Feature: My Account – User profile section
P-Feature: Registration Page – Sign-up UI
P-Feature: Bonus Packages – Bonus display pages
P-Feature: Strategy Cost – Cost estimation tool
P-Feature: DRO Lookup – Data lookup utility
P-Feature: Admin Guide – Admin documentation

🚦 The Priority Series

These labels indicate how important or time-sensitive a task is. They help prioritize work based on project goals and delivery timelines.

Label format: Priority: [Level]

Click to see Priority series label examples

Priority: Must Have – Essential for MVP or release
Priority: Should Have – Highly recommended
Priority: Could Have – Optional, time-permitting
Priority: Won’t Have This Time – Postponed for this cycle

🧠 The Level Series

These labels show how complex or difficult a task is, helping volunteers choose work of increasing difficulty (e.g., Level: Good First Issue when starting on the project, progressing to Level: Medium, and then Level: Hard as they gain experience).

Label format: Level: [Difficulty]

Click to see Level series label examples

Level: Good First Issue – Suitable for onboarding
Level: Easy – Beginner-friendly
Level: Medium – Moderate difficulty
Level: Hard – Requires advanced knowledge

⏳ The Size Series

These labels estimate how much time or effort a task will take, measured in points and hours. They help you plan your work, manage expectations, and help team leads estimate time to completion for features.

Label format: Size: [Points]

Click to see Size series label examples

Size: 0.25 pt – 1.5 hours
Size: 0.5 pt – 2–3 hours
Size: 1 pt – 4–6 hours
Size: 2 pt – 7–12 hours
Size: 3 pt – 13–18 hours
Size: 5 pt – 19–30 hours
Size: 8 pt – 31–48 hours
Size: 13+ pt – Too large; must be split

📚 The Deck Series

These labels show which slide deck or presentation an issue appears in, whether for internal review or stakeholder updates. They also indicate if an issue needs to be added to a deck or if its deck placement is yet to be decided.

Label format: Deck: [Stage or Audience]

Click to see Deck series label examples

Deck: Staging – Prepared for internal review
Deck: Add to Staging – Needs to be added to staging
Deck: Stakeholder Presentation – Stakeholder-ready
Deck: Staging Not for Stakeholders – Internal only

🎯 The Missing Series

These labels help issue creators by flagging when required labels from a particular series have not been added yet. They also notify team leads (design, research, dev, product), who, when the issue is in their area, are sometimes the only ones authorized to add certain labels (e.g., complexity or size).

Label format: Missing: [Label]

Click to see Missing series label examples

Missing: Role – Role assignment not yet added
Missing: Feature – Feature label is missing from the issue
Missing: Priority – Importance of the issue is missing
Missing: Level – Complexity or difficulty level is missing
Missing: Size – Time estimate is missing
Missing: Deck – Deck label is missing from the issue

✅ The Ready For Series

These labels indicate when an issue is ready for a particular team or role to take the next step. They can be added by anyone working on or reviewing the issue who believes another role needs to take action.

Label format: Ready For: [Team or Role]

Click to see Ready For series label examples

Ready For: Prioritization – Ready to be added to the prioritized backlog
Ready For: Product – Ready for the product team
Ready For: Dev Lead – Ready for the development lead
Ready For: Design Lead – Ready for design assignment
Ready For: Developer – Ready for development
Ready For: Content Lead – Ready for content updates
Ready For: Research Lead – Ready for UX research

🔗 The Dependency Label

Use this label when an issue is blocked by another unresolved issue.

Label format: Dependency

Click to see Dependency label details

Dependency – Task cannot begin until a related issue is resolved