User stories and daily scrum or sprint retrospective feedback are also essential elements for determining the tasks that need to be higher in the task board. The subtasks prioritized are those that the product owner has given the go-ahead to implement. Prioritized: An effective scrum project management tool ensures that the items are prioritized on the task board based on how close they are to delivery.
#SPRINT LAYOUT BACKLOG SOFTWARE#
This is why a good product backlog software should provide an emergent scrum tool that facilitates an agile framework. Thus, the pivotal tracker is a must for a good product backlog tool.Įmergent: Within an agile environment, things are always in a state of change, implying that the scrum board will also need to change with changing circumstances. For example, the backlog software needs to allow for sprint planning where subtasks with closer due dates in the sprint run have more details, while those items whose deadlines are still far off don’t need to be prioritized and can move forward at a normal pace.Įstimated: A good product backlog tool should provide burndown charts and other tools that provide the product development team with the ability to visualize project progress, dependencies, due dates, labor, and the time required to accomplish the remaining tasks. I will provide more details about the DEEP acronym below.ĭetailed appropriately: Project backlog items have varying importance and take different places in the list accordingly.
When we look at key features required by a product backlog tool, we determine whether the tool can be called a DEEP agile project management tool. Product Backlog Software Key Considerations Value for $: How appropriate is the price for the features, capabilities, and use case? Is pricing clear, transparent, and flexible?.Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools? Any pre-built integrations that facilitate team collaboration? How well does the tool application programming interface (API) support connecting with other tools like Excel, Trello, Google Drive, GitHub, and Slack to deliver valuable metrics in real time?.Usability: Is it easy to learn and master? Does the company offer good tech support, user support, tutorials, and training? For software development teams, the product backlog solution should not just be easy to use it should also be flexible and allow for the agile methodology.Different product planning interface options, like Gantt charts and Kanban boards, are a must. User Interface (UI): Product backlogs can get overwhelming, so I am looking for a backlog management tool with a simple, straightforward interface that makes it obvious what backlog items are high priority and low priority.What do I look for when I select the best tools for product backlog? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria: Product Backlog Solution Comparison Criteria Here’s a shortlist of the best product backlog management tools: Determining the best project management software depends on the product owner’s needs and the task management needs of the product development team. In listing the product backlog management software below, we aim to highlight the features and functionalities of a good tool. However, this is not the case as different teams have different workflows and work items. In this article, we are concerned with answering an important question for product development teams: What is the best product backlog tool for backlog management? When we list tools in the way we have done here, it’s easy to read this to mean that there is a specific project management tool that’s best for all agile teams.
This is where product backlog tools play a crucial role. However, if the product backlog is to help all stakeholders to read from the same page, information should be available in a central repository. Without the product backlog, it would not be easy for software development teams to have a coherent idea of the processes they should be prioritizing. This to-do list, which is informed by the strategic roadmap, constitutes the product backlog.
For each team member to know which deliverables to prioritize, the project manager should create a to-do list in collaboration with the scrum team. A complete product, ready for the market, is a culmination of individual steps where product development team members play different roles.