Part 4. Populating the product backlog

Once we know the overall goals of a project, we can examine the project in more detail and identify features. These features will go into our backlog, be prioritized, and be added to an iteration if they are of high value.

A product backlog holds features that tie to the product. These features could include bug fixes, product suggestions, refactoring work, nonfunctional requirements, migration work, or content setup.

For a one-time project the backlog is initially populated after team alignment. If you are doing steady-state releases, your backlog already exists and you are in a state of constantly reviewing it before proceeding with your next iteration or release.

Once you have a running backlog, anyone can populate it. The largest contributor is frequently your customer or product owner, but the queue can be populated by the project team, executives, or support groups within your company.

When folks populate your backlog, they may put in requests that equate to an entire project or work that could take several months to complete. You and your team will need to break down the requests into features that can be completed in 10 days or less, or else your project will lose transparency and you will have deliveries that have to cross many iterations to be completed.

Let’s get started by seeing how Acme Media populates its backlog by creating its initial feature cards for the Auctionator project.