What It Means
The Product Backlog is one of the three artifacts in ScrumScrumA lightweight framework, defined in the Scrum Guide, in which a small team delivers work in fixed-length Sprints of one month or less and adjusts after each one. See more: an ordered list of what's needed to improve a product. In the 2020 Scrum Guide it's called emergent, meaning it keeps changing as the team learns, and makes it the single source of work for the Scrum TeamScrum teamThe small, self-managing group that does the work in Scrum: one Product Owner, one Scrum Master and the Developers, typically 10 or fewer people. See more. Its commitment is the Product GoalProduct goalIn Scrum, the long-term objective for a product, a future state the team plans toward, kept in the Product Backlog as its commitment. See more, the long-term objective written into the backlog, and the rest of the items describe what will get the team there.
Try It: Follow One Item Through the Product Backlog
Follow one example item, "Customers can pay by bank transfer," from idea to finished work.
Added to the Product Backlog
The item joins the list under the Product Goal. The Product Owner decides where it sits in the order.
Refined
The team breaks it into smaller, clearer items and adds a description and size. The Developers who'll build it do the sizing.
Selected at Sprint Planning
The Developers pick it, talking it through with the Product Owner, and it moves into the Sprint Backlog.
Done, or back to the list
If it meets the Definition of Done it becomes part of the Increment. If not, it returns to the Product Backlog.
Stage of 4.
How People Say It
- "Throw it on the backlog and we'll look at it later."
- "Is that above or below the reporting fix?"
- "Our backlog has 300 items and nobody's read half of them."
The Breakdown
How to keep a Product Backlog
- Write the Product Goal at the top, so every item can be judged against it.
- Add each idea, fix or request as its own item, in plain words.
- Put the list in strict order. The Product OwnerProduct ownerThe one person on a Scrum Team accountable for maximizing the value of the product and for managing the Product Backlog, including the order of its items. See more is accountable for that order.
- Refine the items near the top: split big ones, add detail, and have the Developers size them.
- At Sprint PlanningSprint planningThe Scrum event that starts each Sprint, where the whole Scrum Team agrees why the Sprint is valuable, what can be done in it and how the work will get done. See more, the Developers pull items from the top into the Sprint BacklogSprint backlogIn Scrum, the Sprint Goal, the Product Backlog items chosen for the Sprint and the Developers' plan for delivering them, kept visible and updated daily. See more.
- Anything that doesn't reach Done in a Sprint goes back to the Product Backlog for another look.
Example (Buhata's own)
| Order | Item | State |
|---|---|---|
| Product Goal | Small shops can take payments without calling us | At the top |
| 1 | Customers can pay by card on a phone | Refined and sized |
| 2 | Customers get an emailed receipt | Refined and sized |
| 3 | Pay by bank transfer | Still one big item |
Short version to try today. Take the list of things you want done on a home project and put it in one strict order, top to bottom, with no ties.
Where It Comes From
The Product Backlog is one of the artifacts defined in the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. Its November 2020 edition gave each artifact a commitment and made the Product Goal the Product Backlog's.
Good to Know
The 2020 Scrum Guide keeps one Product Backlog per product. When several Scrum Teams work on the same product they share it, along with one Product Goal and one Product Owner. Anyone who wants the list changed goes through the Product Owner, and the Developers who'll do the work are the ones who size its items. The guide is free to read at scrumguides.org.
FAQ
Who owns the Product Backlog?
The Product Owner is accountable for managing it, including the Product Goal, clear items and their order. The Developers size the items, and the whole team helps refine them.
What's the difference between the Product Backlog and the Sprint Backlog?
The Product Backlog covers everything the product might need, in order. The Sprint Backlog holds only the Sprint GoalSprint goalThe single objective a Scrum Team sets for one Sprint, agreed at Sprint Planning, which gives the team a shared focus while leaving room in the exact work. See more, the items chosen for the current Sprint and the Developers' plan for them.
What is a product backlog item?
A single entry on the list, such as a feature, a fix or a change. RefinementBacklog refinementThe ongoing Scrum activity of splitting Product Backlog items into smaller, clearer ones and adding details such as a description, order and size. See more gives it details such as a description, an order and a size, and big items get split into smaller, more precise ones.
Do It in Buhata
Tasks, Team Space and Decisions (Team X)
Keep the Product Backlog as one ordered list in Tasks inside a Team Space, and note each ordering call in Decisions with the Team X add-on so the team can see why it was made.
Open BuhataRelated Terms and Categories
- Product owner
The one person on a Scrum Team accountable for maximizing the value of the product and for managing the Product Backlog, including the order of its items.
- Product goal
In Scrum, the long-term objective for a product, a future state the team plans toward, kept in the Product Backlog as its commitment.
- Backlog refinement
The ongoing Scrum activity of splitting Product Backlog items into smaller, clearer ones and adding details such as a description, order and size.
- Sprint backlog
In Scrum, the Sprint Goal, the Product Backlog items chosen for the Sprint and the Developers' plan for delivering them, kept visible and updated daily.
- Sprint planning
The Scrum event that starts each Sprint, where the whole Scrum Team agrees why the Sprint is valuable, what can be done in it and how the work will get done.
- User story
A short description of something a product should do, written from the point of view of the person who needs it, often in the form "As a, I want, so that."
Sources
Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, The 2020 Scrum Guide (scrumguides.org); Scrum.org, "What is a Product Backlog?"; Scrum.org, "Product Backlog Refinement"
- scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html
- scrumguides.org/docs/scrumguide/v2020/2020-Scrum-Guide-US.pdf
- www.scrum.org/resources/what-is-a-product-backlog
- www.scrum.org/resources/product-backlog-refinement
Last updated .