“Estimating in relative terms and bucketing backlog items makes it easier to manage.”
While conducting a roadmap it is necessary to list out the items, tasks, or features to be carried out for completion. Any product starts from an idea and taking it up to the mainstream product consist of various steps and organization by the right team. A product backlog is a specialized to-do list for organizing and prioritizing the product task as important ones. In new products, the product backlog includes the list of features, functional requirements, and non-functional but system requirements. Whereas in existing products along with mentioned list it also includes enhancing requests, bug fixing, infrastructure changes, and other activities that are required to be made as a part of existing product change. The activities or tasks which are not on the product backlog are not done. So product backlog can be considered as the origin that runs product progress.
Who works on the Product Backlog?
In simple it involves business and IT people. Explaining it from a business they involve Product Owners, product managers, or the stakeholders and from IT we have a development team that provides the technical terms insight for creating and fulfilling the features and functionality requirements. In smaller teams, all the members participate in the Product Backlog whereas in larger teams where there are multiple teams the key representative participates in the backlog. Most don’t involve Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches in this but if they do it will be an added advantage as they help in prioritizing features in a satisfactory business needs at the lowest possible cost.
Product Backlog is mostly conducted during Product Planning. They occur after a rough product roadmap. As we now know the basics of Product Backlog let’s move toward the question:
How to Create a Product Backlog?
Inviting Ideas
For creating the Product Backlog at the initial we will concentrate on the list in which we have captured high-level features. As an owner of creating a Product Backlog, Product Owners have to invite everyone involved in the exercise to generate as many new ideas as they can to be added to the list. The ideas regarding features, functions, and requirements may be good or not so good; must be added to the list. While adding the ideas one must keep in mind the customers' needs, market competition, and application of the items or product.
Clarifying the list For a better understanding of addition or fixing the product, it’s necessary to make understand the basic questions:
Why?
Why must it be added to the list? What benefit it is going to provide?
Who?
Who will decide the specification of items to be added? Most developers will decide the specification as they have to carry on the further development process of the item.
What?
What is the motive behind the addition and fixation? What is the problem causing it?
Prioritizing
The items in the list are considered user stories which are further split into different user stories. These user stories are then prioritized from higher to lower priority based on the strategic analysis. Most of the user stories are prioritized based on
· Revenue
· Market Uniqueness
· Complexity
Updating Backlog Regularly
Product backlog must be regularly prioritized, refined, and updated as an internal process. The ideas which are relevant to refine must be updated and which are not must be discarded on a periodic and priority basis. From the product backlog, the prioritized user stories are further taken into the sprint backlog and then developed into a feature of the product.
Maintaining Product Backlog
As the sprints are well planned at every sprint some high-priority user stories are added to them and proceed to development. In this sprint planning, the user stories are again analyzed for needed or not and taken actions as per the decision. The maintenance of both the product backlog and sprint backlog will keep the team updated and reduce the extra effort in developing not-so-required features and functionality.
Continuously updating, ordering, and prioritizing the product backlog will provide the team with extra time, motivation, and enterprise with increased revenue, and brand value.
“If there is something that predicts momentum it’s a backlog.”
About Advance Agility
We, at Advance Agility, are the new-age Agile Coaching, Consulting, and IT services company. We enable end-to-end Digital Transformation. Agile execution is integral to our being. We are doing SAFe implementation with small, medium, and large organizations across the globe. Our vision is to be the leading Agile execution player globally. To keep adding value at every process stage. We are on a mission to empower our clients and move from concept to cash in the shortest sustainable lead time by adopting a human-centric approach to business agility. Embracing change is in our DNA. Things that keep us apart are Quicker and Seamless execution with an End-to-end gamut of services. Our Global presence and Stellar Track Record give us an edge over our competitors.
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