💡 The Product Backlog is the list of all of the currently known work items that need to be implemented in our product.
Key characteristics #
The Product Backlog (PB) will contain functional requirements (such as features to be developed), bugs and defects, non-functional requirements (items required to allow for other work), technical debt, research, and more.
The PB is the single source of work for the Scrum Team.
The PB is never complete and will change on an ongoing basis as more is learned.
The PB is owned by the Product Owner. While others may add or make changes in the PB, it’s the Product Owner’s responsibility to keep the PB up-to-date, well-ordered, and transparent.
The PB must be transparent meaning it must be visible, easily accessible to others (e.g. stakeholders), and understood by everyone involved in the product development.
The PB is ordered by the Product Owner by value or any other indicators they see fit.
The PB is refined regularly and contains just enough information just in time. This means that the top items on the PB usually are well split into smaller work items and have enough description and details added. The items at the bottom of the PB are usually less refined since they are less important.
Example #
For example, a Product Backlog for a mobile messenger app may include work items like:
- Allow users to create an account with their cellphone number
- Allow users to add new contacts using a cellphone number
- Allow users to create a new chat and add 1 person from their contacts
- Chat window shows messages based on the design (design attached)
- Allow multiple people to be added to the chat
Or if our mobile application already is active and working, we may add more advanced functionality to our PB:
- Allow users to send audio messages
- Allow users to send stickers with a library of at least 50 stickers available
- When links are shared, the preview of the webpage appears in the chat
Commitment: Product Goal #
The commitment associated with the Product Backlog is the Product Goal
Backlog Refinement #
While Backlog Refinement is often considered a mandatory Scrum Event, it is more an activity a team needs to do and there is no prescribed way to do it.
