Backlog Owners (also known as Product Owner for Scrum) are responsible for defining, prioritizing, and updating the Team Backlog as needed. This may require the assistance of the Tech Leads, Business SMEs, and/or other stakeholders. The Backlog Owner will take responsibility for what gets implemented and is empowered to make fast, local decisions about what is built. They are also responsible for providing input to help build and maintain the product roadmap. It is also important that the Backlog Owner understands the architectural and technical work that needs to be completed, since this work is often a predecessor for implementing the business features. They will facilitate the backlog grooming for each sprint and should be on a cadence on the Team’s calendar. If needed, the Scrum Master can send out the invites. The Backlog Owners are responsible for ensuring all work items in the Backlog meet the Definition of Ready before being pulled into an iteration and meets the Definition of Done when accepting the Work Item in the Iteration. Below are examples of how to breakdown User Stories, Definition of Ready, and Definition of Done.
Breaking Down User Stories
1. Workflow steps?What steps does a user perform? Are all of the steps necessary now? Can steps be simplified for now?
Steps in an order process, like selecting a payment option, delivery method, etc. |
2. Business rules?What rules apply to this story? Are all business rules necessary now? Can simpler rules suffice?
Rules in an order process (no order below 10 dollars, no shipping outside US). |
3. Happy / unhappy flow?What does the happy / unhappy flow look like? Are all unhappy flows necessary (right now)? Can unhappy flows be simplified (for now)?
Failure during a webshop order process and possible recovery options. |
4. Input options?Which platforms are supported? Are all platforms required (right now)? Are some platforms harder to implement than others?
Tablets, iPhone, desktop, touchscreen. |
5. Data types and parameters?What data types are supported and relevant? Which parameterized views are there? Are all parameters relevant at the moment?
Different search options / strategies or different kinds of reports (tables, graphs, etc.) |
6. Operations?What operations does the story entail? Are all operations necessary right now?
Breaking down on CRUD (create, read, update, delete). |
7. Test cases?What tests scenarios are used to verify this story? Are all test scenerios relevant at the moment?
Some test scenarios may be very complex, but not highly relevant at this time. |
8. Roles?Which roles are involved in this story? What can the roles do? Are all roles necessary now?
A customer can create orders, administrators can manage orders, etc. |
9. Browser compatibility?What browsers have to be supported? Are all browsers important at this point?
Ignoring support for Internet Explorer 9 because only a fraction of users make use of it. |
10. Optimize now vs optimize later?What optimizations can we think of (UX/UI)? Are all optimizations necessary now?
Implementing auto-complete for addresses, usage of GPS-location. |
