What Is a Product Backlog?

A product backlog is a to-do list that guides your team’s activities based on priority. It prioritises the most critical tasks, enabling a top-down approach and seamless collaboration across all teams.

Product backlogs are set through roadmap processes, which align high-level goals to structure a strategic plan for the ultimate vision. Essentially, they’re the list of tasks necessary to meet the vision outlined in the roadmap. Development teams often use them in Agile and Scrum methodologies.

What does a product backlog include?

A product backlog includes various elements, including bug fixes, features, technical debts, knowledge acquisitions, or changes. Each component serves a different purpose. 

• Bug fixes are software coding errors that the team must address quickly to prevent product compromise. Bugs that interrupt the current workload may take priority over less damaging bugs.

• Features are parts of a product that are important to the user. These are essentially descriptions of user requirements. Users typically classify them as “epic” if they’re complex or “simple” for straightforward ones.

• Technical debt worsens if left unaddressed, similar to financial debt. It refers to neglected work that’s repeatedly pushed down the product backlog instead of being solved promptly—this will require later visits and more effort and time.

• Knowledge acquisition is tasks that require gathering more information, which usually involves prototypes or experiments that require additional insight.

• Changes are any change requests from the clients for the development team to address.

Related terms

• Agile project management

• Scope creep

• Product lifecycle

• Competitive product

Next steps

A product backlog is like a living document, continually changing according to the client’s needs and the project’s progress. Refining it throughout the process can increase transparency, ensure everyone is kept up-to-date, and enhance the team’s efficiency. 

Consider pursuing a Professional Certificate to deepen your knowledge of product backlogs and other project management processes. Coursera hosts many options, including the Google Project Management Professional Certificate, which helps you build a base in the fundamentals of project management, including understanding Agile and Scrum.