The Product Backlog is a built artifact: an internal product used by the Scrum Team to order its work and to assemble the outward-facing Product Increment. It is ‟ownedˮ by the Product Owner who has the final say on its content. The Product Owner continually manages the Product Backlog to help the team manage its work toward achieving the Greatest Value.
The Product Backlog is just one segment of the Value Stream. Ideas flow into it from stakeholders upstream, and specifications flow out of it into the Sprint Backlog for realization during a Sprint.
The Product Backlog is a Whole which the team can build. The team can develop the Product Backlog according to a sequence that suggests an ordering for the patterns it comprises. The team can weave this sequence together with the Value Stream Sequence to elaborate those steps pertinent to developing the backlog itself. What follows is a typical sequence for starting up and maintaining a Product Backlog. Individual products may find other orderings equally useful: inspect and adapt.
§ 50 ROI-Ordered Backlog.
Normally the Product Owner orders the Product Backlog to achieve the highest ROI based on current knowledge, with the goal being the Greatest Value. The initial backlog comprises a list of Sprint Goals, each designed to characterize a single release in a sequence of Regular Product Increments.
§ 51 High Value First.
Alternatively, the organization can choose to work with a fixed-scope, fixed-cost client to take advantage of approaches like Change for Free and Money for Nothing.
§ 55 Product Backlog Item.
The Product Owner, perhaps with the help of the rest of the Scrum Team, breaks down the envisioned Product Increments into Product Backlog Items (PBIs).
§ 56 Information Radiator.
The team posts the backlog and other key team artifacts visibly, both for its own reference and to inform other stakeholders.
§ 59 Granularity Gradient.
As part of breaking down the backlog, the Product Owner and the Development Team reduce the PBIs near the top of the backlog to Small Items, leaving later PBIs intact.
§ 63 Enabling Specification.
The Product Owner ensures that the Development Team members perfectly understand each PBI scheduled for the next Sprint.
§ 64 Refined Product Backlog.
The Product Owner and the Development Team meet regularly to ensure the Product Backlog stays up-to-date.
§ 65 Definition of Ready.
Right before the Production Episode, at Sprint Planning, the Product Owner and the Development Team together ensure the Product Backlog is ordered properly with respect to dependencies and market considerations, and developers estimate every imminent PBI. At Sprint Planning, the Development Team pulls Ready items from the top of the Product Backlog to achieve the Sprint Goal. These PBIs will drive their Production Episode work plan.