2011-11-01 | 10:40 AM - 11:40 AM | Victoria Many product backlogs I have come across are not managed very well: They either contain too much or too little information, ranging from literally a handful of user stories to many hundred items. This talk provides ten practical tips that help you to stay on top of it. The tips include making the product backlog DEEP, understanding what "ready" means, and how the backlog can be visualised.

1. Product
Backlog
Tips
and
Tricks
JAX
London
2011
Roman
Pichler
@romanpichler
romanpichler.com

2. Two
Common
Mistakes
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2011
Pichler
ConsulDng
Limited
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3. The
Product
Backlog
• Contains
the
work
to
create
a
successful
product
• This
includes
– Features
and
requirements
– Defects
and
maintenance
work
– Prototyping
and
refactoring
work
Product
Backlog
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2011
Pichler
ConsulDng
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4. Derive
your
Backlog
from
the
Vision
For
whom?
Completes
Why?
and
refines
What?
the
vision
Product
Vision
Product
Backlog
Makes
Shared
the
vision
hypothesis
implementable
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2011
Pichler
ConsulDng
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5. Ensure
your
Backlog
is
Very
DEEP
Detailed
Visible
appropriately
PrioriDsed
Emergent
Product
Backlog
EsDmated
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2011
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ConsulDng
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6. Keep
your
Backlog
Concise
• Think
big
but
start
small
– Restrict
your
iniDal
product
backlog
to
about
40-­‐50
items
– Keep
the
majority
of
the
items
coarse-­‐grained
• Use
the
vision
to
decide
if
an
item
should
be
added
or
removed
– Only
add
items
that
help
you
turn
the
vision
into
a
successful
product
–
assuming
your
vision
is
valid
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2011
Pichler
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7. Let
your
Backlog
Emerge
Product
Backlog
Working
Change
Soware
Feedback
Learning
Customers
and
users
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2011
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8. Groom
your
Backlog
Regularly
• Discover
and
describe
new
items,
adjust
or
remove
exisDng
ones
• PrioriDze
the
product
backlog
items
• EsDmate
the
items
• Prepare
the
high-­‐priority
items
and
get
them
ready
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2011
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9. Groom
CollaboraDvely
Customer
Marketer
Product
Owner
Development
Team
Salesman
User
Service
Rep
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2011
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10. Use
Stories
Wisely
• Start
with
big,
coarse
grained
user
stories
(epics)
• Add
detail
based
on
customer
and
user
feedback
– Decompose
the
stories
progressively
driven
by
their
priority
• Apply
the
3C
criteria
to
your
stories
– Card
– ConversaDon
– ConfirmaDon
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2011
Pichler
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11. Get
the
Backlog
Ready
Ready
Working
Software
Ready = Clear + feasible + testable
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2011
Pichler
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12. Don’t
forget
the
“iliDes”
OperaDonal
qualiDes
Product
and
user
Such
as
performance,
interface
design
robustness,
compliance,
Employ
sketches
and
interoperability,
and
screen
shots
security
Global Performance
Constraint
The system must
answer any request in
less than a second.
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2011
Pichler
ConsulDng
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13. Try
my
Product
Backlog
Board
Story
Area
Constraint
Area
OperaDonal
Product
and
1.
Story
2.
Story
3.
Story
4.
Story
Ready
QualiDes
UI
Design
Items
5.
Story
6.
Story
7.
Story
8.
Story
Performance
Constraint
Epic
Epic
Theme
A
Epic
Epic
Epic
Robustness
Constraint
Epic
Epic
Theme
B
Epic
Epic
Interop.
Constraint
Theme
C
Epic
Epic
Epic
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2011
Pichler
ConsulDng
Limited
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14. The
Reward
is
Sweet

15. CONSULTING
AND TRAINING
IN AGILE
PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT
AND SCRUM
Contact details:
+44 (0) 7974 203772
roman.pichler@romanpichler.com
@romanpichler
www.romanpichler.com
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