제품 백로그는 제품 로드맵 및 그 요구 사항에서 파생된 개발 팀에서 수행할 우선 순위가 지정된 작업 목록입니다. 가장 중요한 항목은 제품 백로그 상단에 표시되므로 팀은 무엇을 가장 먼저 제공해야 하는지 파악할 수 있습니다. 개발 팀은 제품 소유자의 속도에 맞춰 백로그 작업을 하지 않으며 제품 소유자는 개발 팀에 작업을 푸시하지 않습니다. 대신 작업 수용량이 있으므로 개발 팀은 지속적으로(칸반) 또는 반복을 통해(스크럼) 제품 백로그에서 작업을 가져옵니다.

A well-managed product backlog can bring numerous benefits to a development team. Some of the key benefits include:

• Improved prioritization: A product backlog helps to ensure that the most critical tasks are being worked on first.

• Increased efficiency: By prioritizing tasks based on customer feedback and business objectives, teams can ensure they work on the most valuable tasks.

• Better communication: A product backlog ensures everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals.

• Reduced waste: By prioritizing tasks based on customer feedback and business objectives, teams can reduce waste and ensure that they are not working on tasks that are not valuable.

• Improved customer satisfaction: By prioritizing tasks based on customer feedback, teams can ensure they deliver customers' desired features and functionality.

Overall, a well-managed product backlog is essential for agile product development. It ensures that teams are working on the most valuable tasks and that everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals.

A team's roadmap and requirements provide the foundation for the product backlog. Roadmap initiatives break down into several epics, and each epic will have several requirements and user stories. Let's take a look at the roadmap for a ficticious product called Teams in Space.

Since the Teams in Space website is the first initiative in the roadmap, we'll want to break down that initiative into epics (shown here in green, blue, and teal) and user stories for each of those epics.

The product owner then organizes each of the user stories into a single list for the development team. The product owner may choose to deliver a complete epic first (left). Or, it may be more important to the program to test booking a discounted flight which requires stories from several epics (right). See both examples below.

What may influence a product owner's prioritization?

• Customer priority

• Urgency of getting feedback

• Relative implementation difficulty

• Symbiotic relationships between work items (e.g. B is easier if we do A first)

Effective product backlog prioritization ensures that the most critical tasks are addressed first, balancing team autonomy with the product owner's demands.While the product owner is tasked with prioritizing the backlog, it's not done in a vacuum. Effective product owners seek input and feedback from customers, designers, and the development team to optimize everyone's workload and the product delivery.

Creating a product backlog is a crucial step in agile product development. It involves building a product roadmap, listing product backlog items, and communicating with the team.

Building a product roadmap

A product roadmap is a high-level plan outlining the product’s vision, goals, and objectives. It serves as the foundation for the product backlog and helps ensure everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals.

To build a product roadmap, define the product’s vision and mission. Then, identify the key objectives and goals that need to be achieved. Finally, break down the objectives into smaller, manageable tasks that can be added to the product backlog.

Listing product backlog items

Once the product roadmap is in place, it’s time to start listing product backlog items. These items can include features, user stories, bugs, design changes, and technical debt.

When listing product backlog items, include a clear description of each item and any relevant details, such as estimated time and resources required. It’s also essential to prioritize the items based on customer feedback, requests, and business objectives.

This ensures the development team works on tasks that deliver the most value.

Communicating with the team

Effective communication is critical when creating a product backlog. The product owner should work closely with the development team to ensure everyone understands the product backlog and the priorities.

The product owner should also communicate with other teams, such as sales and marketing, to ensure everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals. Regular meetings and updates ensure everyone is on the same page and that the product backlog is effectively managed. Still need guidance?

Check out the free product backlog template from Jira.

Backlog prioritization is essential for ensuring the development team focuses on tasks that deliver maximum impact. Here’s how to approach it:Various backlog prioritization techniques, such as MoSCoW and weighted scoring, can help teams manage and order tasks effectively. The prioritization process involves regularly revising and realigning goals to adapt to a dynamic business environment.

Step 1. Evaluate customer needs

• Identify features or fixes that will have the highest value for your users.

• Use customer feedback, surveys, or analytics to pinpoint priorities.

Step 2. Assess urgency for feedback

• Prioritize items that will generate actionable insights for the team or stakeholders.

• For example, testing a new feature early can save time and resources later.

Step 3. Consider implementation complexity

• Balance your backlog by including quick wins and more complex, long-term projects.

• Weigh the effort-to-impact ratio to ensure resources are spent wisely.

Step 4. Account for dependencies

• Identify tasks that must be completed before others can proceed.

• Streamline workflows by handling foundational work first.

Reliable tools that support backlog prioritization can streamline product development and enhance efficiency. While the product owner leads prioritization, involving the development team, designers, and stakeholders fosters a shared understanding of priorities. Regular discussions ensure alignment and improve decision-making.

Pro tip: Use prioritization frameworks like MoSCoW (Must-have, Should-have, Could-have, and Won’t-have) or weighted scoring to make objective, data-driven decisions. Teams can implement their own unique prioritization frameworks using the flexible prioritization feature in Jira Product Discovery.

제품 백로그를 만들면 프로그램과의 속도를 맞추기 위해 정기적으로 유지 관리하는 것이 중요합니다. 제품 소유자는 각 반복 계획 미팅을 진행하기 전에 백로그를 검토하여 우선 순위가 올바르고 마지막 반복의 피드백이 반영되었는지 확인해야 합니다. 애자일 서클에서는 백로그에 대한 정기적인 검토를 "백로그 그루밍"이라고 하는 경우가 많습니다(일부는 백로그 세분화라는 용어를 사용함).

백로그가 커지면 제품 소유자는 백로그를 단기적 및 장기적 항목으로 그룹화해야 합니다. 단기적 항목은 단기적인 것으로 분류되기 전에 완전히 구체화해야 합니다. 즉, 완전한 사용자 스토리가 작성되고, 디자인 및 개발 팀과의 협업이 분류되고, 개발 팀에서 추정치가 만들어져 있어야 합니다. 장기적 항목은 약간 막연할 수 있지만 우선 순위를 정하는 데 도움이 되도록 개발 팀으로부터 대략적인 추정치를 받는 것이 좋습니다. 여기서 핵심 단어는 "대략적"입니다. 팀이 장기적 항목을 완전히 파악하고 작업을 시작하면 추정치가 변경될 것입니다.

백로그는 제품 소유자와 개발 팀 간의 연결고리 역할을 합니다. 제품 소유자는 고객 피드백, 추정치 조정 및 새로운 요구 사항으로 인해 언제든지 백로그에서 작업의 우선 순위를 다시 지정할 수 있습니다. 하지만 작업이 진행 중이면 변경 사항은 개발 팀을 방해하고 집중력, 흐름 및 사기에 영향을 미치므로 변경 사항을 최소한으로 유지하세요.

Savvy product owners rigorously groom their program’s product backlog to create a reliable and sharable outline of the project's work items.

Stakeholders will challenge priorities, and that’s good. Fostering discussion around what’s important gets everyone’s priorities in sync. These discussions foster a culture of group prioritization, ensuring everyone shares the same mindset about the program.

A well-prioritized agile backlog clarifies what the team intends to spend time on, highlighting visible and internal tasks. The product backlog also serves as the foundation for iteration planning. All work items should be included in the backlog: user stories, bugs, design changes, technical debt, customer requests, action items from the retrospective, etc. This ensures everyone’s work items are included in the overall discussion for each iteration. Team members can then make trade-offs with the product owner before starting an iteration with complete knowledge of everything that needs to be done.

Pro tip: Product owners dictate the priority of work items in the backlog, while the development team dictates its velocity. This can be a tenuous relationship for new product owners who want to “push” work to the team. This article explains work-in-progress limits and flow.