The Backlog

Project backlog vs iteration backlog

An important tool in planning is the project backlog or product backlog. This is a collection of all work items yet to be realized during the project, to the extent they’re known. The latter is an important addition. The backlog is never a definitive view of all work items, but only of the currently known work items. The backlog is a snapshot.

In general, the project backlog is a list of work items, with or without an estimate in points or hours or the priority listed there. The project backlog can have different types of work items, just like balls in the Lingo game. Sometimes the balls are blue, sometimes green, and sometimes red. In Scrum and Extreme Programming, the backlog is filled with user stories (referred to as “US”), in Feature-driven development with features, and in Smart with smart use cases.

For each iteration, the work items that are selected during the kick-off are posted on a second backlog. This is called the iteration backlog, and in Scrum, the sprint backlog.