Question 1

What is a product backlog?

Accepted Answer

A single, prioritized, continuously evolving list of everything that could be built or improved in a product, ordered so the most valuable items sit at the top.

Question 2

Who owns the product backlog?

Accepted Answer

The Product Owner in Scrum, or a Product Manager in organizations without that formal role. They're accountable for what's in it and how it's ordered.

Question 3

What's the difference between a product backlog and a sprint backlog?

Accepted Answer

The product backlog is the full, evolving list of everything that could be built; the sprint backlog is the small subset a team commits to for a single sprint.

Question 4

What goes into a product backlog?

Accepted Answer

Features and enhancements, bug fixes, technical work and tech debt, and research or investigation items, not just new features.

Question 5

What is backlog refinement?

Accepted Answer

The ongoing process of clarifying, estimating, and re-ordering backlog items so the top of the list is always ready for the next sprint. It's sometimes called grooming.

Question 6

How much time should refinement take?

Accepted Answer

Many teams dedicate a small, recurring slice of each sprint to it, often cited as up to around 10% of capacity, though the exact amount varies by team.

Question 7

What is the DEEP model?

Accepted Answer

A checklist for backlog health: Detailed appropriately, Estimated, Emergent, and Prioritized. A backlog that satisfies all four stays useful and workable.

Question 8

How do you prioritize a product backlog?

Accepted Answer

Using frameworks like value versus effort, RICE, MoSCoW, or weighted scoring, with the ordering always tracing back to the broader product strategy.

Question 9

What's the difference between a backlog and a roadmap?

Accepted Answer

A roadmap is a higher-level, time-oriented view of direction; the backlog is the detailed, prioritized queue of actual work items underneath it.

Question 10

What mistakes should teams avoid?

Accepted Answer

Letting the backlog become a dumping ground, over-refining the distant future, ignoring bugs and tech debt, and allowing multiple people to reorder it.

What Is a Product Backlog and How Do You Manage It?

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