MSF for Agile Software Development

Backlog Items

Backlog Item

 

Overview

A backlog item defines a unit of work, focused on tasks such as analysis, design, development, testing or deployment. During the initial planning of the project, the stakeholders define the business case, the vision, the initial product backlog (see User Stories), the initial release plan, the team and the logistics, such as infrastructures, software, etc.  The initial product backlog defines a set of user stories, which define functional and non-functional requirements.

 

During the sprint planning meeting, the team identifies the backlog items which will be addressed during the next sprint, defining the duration; the team members responsible for the items and whether or not some or all of the items are exit criteria items. Once the backlog items are assigned to a sprint, they are implicitly converted to sprint backlog items, identifying an individual task and a defined unit of work.

 

States and Transitions


New


A backlog item is new when it is first created.  Create a new backlog item when work has been identified from either the user stories or another source.


New to Active

 

Investigate

A backlog item made be assigned to a team member for validation or analysis before work is assigned to a sprint.

Accepted

A back log item may be made active when it has been validated and assigned to a team member.


Active


A backlog item is active when it has been reviewed by the scrum master and team and has been targeted for further analysis or has been accepted as valid work for the project.


Active to Closed

Overtaken

A backlog item may be closed if the item has been overtaken by events in the project.

Duplicate

A backlog item may be closed if the item is the duplicate of another backlog item.

Postponed

A backlog item may be closed if the project team decides to postpone the work.

Removed

A backlog item may be closed if it has been removed from the project backlog.


Active to Resolved

Complete (No Verification)

A backlog item may be marked as resolved once the work has been completed and may or may not need to be verified.

Complete (Requires Verification)

A backlog item may be marked as resolved once the work has been completed and may or may not need to be verified.


Resolved


A backlog item is resolved when the work that it specified has been completed but not yet tested or  reviewed.


Resolved to Active

Verification Failed

A backlog item may need to be reactivated if verification of the work completed is not successful.


Resolved to Closed

Verified

A backlog item may be closed once the work completed has been successfully verified.


Closed


A backlog item is closed when the work that it specifies has either been completed or is no longer needed for the the project.


Closed to Active

Reactivated

A backlog item may need to be reactivated for a variety of reasons.

Closed in Error

A backlog item may have been closed by accident and need to be reopened.

 

Fields

Title

Required. The title provides a concise description of the backlog item. The title should be descriptive enough to give the team a quick summary of the backlog item.

Area

The area is used to group the backlog item into an appropriate feature or team area. The area must be a valid node in the project hierarchy.

Sprint

The sprint for which the backlog item is planned.

Assigned To

The current person that backlog item is assigned to. This may be any of the project team members.

Priority

The importance of the backlog item to the project team.  Higher priority backlog items should be dealt with first.

Complexity

A numeric representation of the complexity of the backlog item. 

State

Required.  Used to determine the status of the backlog item in its lifecycle.  A backlog item can be in the New,  Active, Resolved or Closed states.

Reason

The reason the backlog item is in the current state.

Blocked

A flag to denote that progress on the backlog item has been stopped.

Description

This field provides a description of the backlog item.

History

The history field contains the set of changes to the backlog item.

Links

Links to related work items, hyperlinks, changesets, or source code files.

File Attachments

Attach related files providing additional documentation for the backlog item.

Integration Build

The build in which the backlog item was completed.

Exit Criteria

Used to flag the backlog item as exit criteria for the sprint.

Estimate

The estimate time (in hours) for the backlog item.

Remaining Work

The amount of work (in hours) left to be done for the backlog item.

Completed Work

The amount of work (in hours) already done for the backlog item.

 

 

 

     

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