productbacklog

Product backlog is an ordered list of all work required to build and improve a product. It represents the team’s current understanding of what would deliver the most value and serves as the primary input to planning and prioritization. The backlog is dynamic, evolving as customer feedback, market conditions, and technical considerations change.

Items in the backlog can include epics, features, user stories, improvements, fixes, technical debt, research spikes, and tasks. Each item typically has a description, acceptance criteria, estimated effort or size, priority or value, and any dependencies or risks. Many teams store backlog items in a dedicated tool and maintain consistent fields such as value, effort, and priority.

Management and refinement: a product owner or equivalent role maintains the backlog and conducts regular refinement sessions to clarify items, split large items, and adjust estimates and priorities. The process often uses definitions of ready and done to ensure items are well understood before they enter a sprint and are considered complete when accepted.

Relation to a sprint: in Scrum, sprint planning selects a subset of backlog items to form the sprint backlog for a fixed period, while the remaining items stay in the product backlog for future consideration. The backlog supports incremental, value-driven delivery and alignment with stakeholders, but requires disciplined grooming to prevent drift or bloating.