Product  Backlog  Tips  and  Tricks  

Roman  Pichler  @romanpichler  

romanpichler.com  

JAX  London  2011  

Two  Common  Mistakes  

2  ©  2011  Pichler  ConsulDng  Limited  

The  Product  Backlog  

•  Contains  the  work  to  create  a  successful  product  •  This  includes  

–  Features  and  requirements  –  Defects  and  maintenance  work  

–  Prototyping  and  refactoring  work  

3  ©  2011  Pichler  ConsulDng  Limited  

Product  Backlog  

Derive  your  Backlog  from  the  Vision  

Product  Backlog  Product  Vision  

4  ©  2011  Pichler  ConsulDng  Limited  

Completes  and  refines  the  vision  

Makes  the  vision  

implementable  

For  whom?  Why?  What?  

Shared  hypothesis  

Ensure  your  Backlog  is  Very  DEEP  

Product  Backlog  

5  ©  2011  Pichler  ConsulDng  Limited  

Detailed  appropriately  

Emergent  

EsDmated  

PrioriDsed  

Visible  

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  

6  ©  2011  Pichler  ConsulDng  Limited  

Let  your  Backlog  Emerge  

Customers  and  users  

Product  Backlog  

Working  So\ware  

Feedback  Learning  

7  ©  2011  Pichler  ConsulDng  Limited  

Change  

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  

8  ©  2011  Pichler  ConsulDng  Limited  

Groom  CollaboraDvely  

Customer  

User  

Marketer  

Salesman  

Service  Rep  

Product  Owner   Development  Team  

9  ©  2011  Pichler  ConsulDng  Limited  

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  

10  ©  2011  Pichler  ConsulDng  Limited  

Ready  Working Software

Get  the  Backlog  Ready  

Ready = Clear + feasible + testable

11  ©  2011  Pichler  ConsulDng  Limited  

Don’t  forget  the  “iliDes”  

OperaDonal  qualiDes  Such  as  performance,  robustness,  compliance,  interoperability,  and  security  

Product  and  user  interface  design  

Employ  sketches  and  screen  shots  

 

12  ©  2011  Pichler  ConsulDng  Limited  

The system must answer any request in less than a second.

Global Performance Constraint

Try  my  Product  Backlog  Board  Constraint  Area  

OperaDonal  QualiDes  

Product  and  UI  Design  

Performance  Constraint  

Robustness  Constraint  

Interop.  Constraint  

Story  Area  

Ready    Items  

1.  Story   2.  Story   4.  Story  3.  Story  

6.  Story   7.  Story  5.  Story   8.  Story  

Theme  A    

Theme  C    

Theme  B    

Epic  

Epic  

Epic  

Epic  

Epic  

Epic  

Epic  

Epic   Epic  

Epic   Epic  

Epic  

13  ©  2011  Pichler  ConsulDng  Limited  

The  Reward  is  Sweet  

CONSULTINGAND TRAININGIN AGILEPRODUCTMANAGEMENTAND SCRUM

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Contact details:

+44 (0) 7974 203772 roman.pichler@romanpichler.com @romanpichler

www.romanpichler.com www.allthingsproductowner.com