What is a backlog

Definition

A backlog is the one ordered list of what could still be done to a product, with the most important item at the top. The Scrum Guide (2020) defines the Product Backlog as "an emergent, ordered list of what is needed to improve the product" and "the single source of work undertaken by the Scrum Team", and makes one person, the Product Owner, accountable for managing it, including its order. Only the top items are written small and clear enough to start. Items further down stay rough, and deleting items is part of keeping the list. In sales and finance, an order backlog means something else: orders received but not yet delivered.

Why it matters

When the developer, the agency or the owner finishes one item, the next one is already at the top, written clearly. It also keeps ideas without letting them crowd the work: a new request goes into the list and waits for its place. RICE is one way to decide that order, and the top items are often written as user stories. A list nobody deletes from turns into a wish list, and a wish list orders nothing.

Directly related: Product Roadmap, User Story, RICE.

Improvement tips

• Keep one list, in order, with only the top two or three items written in full.
• Draw a line under the items that are ready to start, so everyone sees what comes next.
• Delete items nobody has touched for months: if they matter, they will come back.

Common mistakes

• Keeping several lists in different places, so nobody knows which one sets the order.
• Writing every item in full detail, including ideas that may never be built.