Best Ways to Prioritize Product Backlog

It takes a lot to develop software programs. You know that it needs people. Not only people but it also needs time, money, and most important tasks to be completed. Right from the instigation from the phase of validation, until the software is delivered to customers, Agile teams work to offer the best value to users. But, here comes the question for some teams on how to differentiate value and how to prioritize when everything looks like having equal importance. What is the right prioritization strategy to follow? 

Product Owners hold this responsibility in any organization when it comes to prioritizing items in the backlog. They prepare the prioritization list after getting input from stakeholders and the development team. They are responsible for ordering the backlog, focusing on which items require attention sooner and which items can wait. 

What Does Product Backlog Mean?

A Product Backlog otherwise called a product backlist is a list of tasks to be completed to meet the strategic plans of the product roadmap. It is about modifying the thought process into tasks actionable tasks that encompass who should perform a particular task and how to. A product roadmap is a huge picture presenting strategies and high-level objectives for achieving a specific goal. 

Why is Product Backlog Important?

Indeed, if you are a Product Owner, you should find the answer to the question of how to prioritize backlog. However, before that, it is better to understand the importance of a Product Backlog. It is important because:

• It helps teams to rank an item and then develop value
• Product Backlog aids with re-ranking the features that manipulate the product value
• It aids with planning the roadmap for the product
• The Product Backlog helps with the estimation of every feature​​​​​

What Are The Characteristics of a Product Backlog?

A good Product Backlog should be detailed appropriately, emergent, estimated and prioritized. This is referred to as DEEP.

What Does Prioritization Mean?

When you search for the meaning of the term prioritization, you will come across different meanings. However, all of them will boil down to a single thought. Prioritization means keeping things in order, to spot the most important thing to be dealt with or done first. 

This might involve organizing a combination of things or tasks that should be completed and even ranking them by considering different factors. With prioritization, it aids with clearly defining what to pay attention to so that you can achieve the utmost productivity. It involves spotting the things to be done initially when you have many things to complete. When you prioritize things for a day, you should ensure you have time for all tasks to complete.

The Importance of Prioritization:

Setting priorities is crucial to make sure that you complete everything that should be done. When you prioritize as a Product Owner, it will be possible for your team to understand the things that they should focus on first and with urgency. After completing the urgent tasks, they can pay attention to items with lower priority later. 

If prioritization is not done, you will have issues completing tasks on time. Also, when you do not prioritize, it will create stress on things that you will complete tasks on the to-do list. When a to-do list is important in the life of individuals, it is even more important in organizations that involve in a lot of tasks. With a to-do list, you can see what should be focused on from a bird’s-eye view. In turn, you can save energy, time and can work efficiently. 

Now, you know the importance of Product Backlog and its importance. Also, you know what prioritization means along with its importance. So, it is time to understand how to prioritize Product Backlog:

Backlog Prioritization Tips:

1. Use Prioritization Matrix:

The prioritization matrix technique is otherwise called as an Impact or effort matrix. It aids the teams to rank functionalities, issues and other matters in the backlog based on their importance in the project. This technique encompasses a matrix with a couple of axes. They are the effort axis and the impact axis as shown in the picture below:

When you use this technique for backlog prioritization, you will benefit from involving everyone associated with the project to discuss varied product-related tasks like issues, features, and requirements. Further, this technique is special because it can be used with sticky notes, whiteboards, and templates available today.

2. Use MoSCoW Prioritization Technique:

As you wish to know how to prioritize Product Backlog, you can consider using a technique called MoSCoW used by Agile teams. It is an easy-to-use and simple technique that is expanded as Must, Should, Could and Would. When you use this technique, you can spot the relative importance of items in the backlog. Here, the word “Must” denotes any important item for the product to function properly. The next word “Should” denotes items with high value to customers. “Could” is used for denoting backlog items with small features and fixes, while “Would” denotes items with the least importance. These are items that you can add to future backlogs if time does not permit this time. This technique is fast and not too mathematical or technical.

3. Spot the Bucketing System Ideal for Organizing Items on your Backlog:

When you organize items in your backlog, it would be helpful to set categories that every item should fall under. As compared to the purpose of each category, the naming convention is very important. Only then, you can get a clear understanding of what should be prioritized. When you follow a bucketing system, the backlog feeds what teams will work on at the time of every sprint. You can get a better understanding from the picture below:

Once you spot the categories that your teams will use, it will be easier to organize and slot in items. The arrangement can be done as follows:

Now, when you plan for your next sprint, you can quickly look at the items in the backlog. When the items are arranged as in the picture above, you can easily understand what you should do for task completion and you can also estimate what your team can handle. From that place, you can pick items from categories and can add them to the next sprint.

4. Consider Using Stack Ranking Technique:

Stack Ranking is an excellent answer to your question of how to prioritize Product Backlog. Yes, when you stack rank, you will be in a position to consider every backlog item and can place it in order of priority. You can instigate with one and then can move on to two, three and can go on until the total number of items in your backlog.

The advantage of using this technique is that there can be only one number at a time. So, it will be possible for you to get rid of a common product pitfall, where every item turns out to be a priority. Another benefit of this technique is that it is less confusing and accurate in most instances. Using this technique, you can prioritize every item relative to all other items. In turn, the process becomes simple and clear. This is an easier and more accurate method to prioritize as against providing absolute values.

5. Use Weighted Shortest Job-First Approach:

Shortly called WSJF, this principle is commonly used by organizations that follow the Agile approach for software development. When you use this technique, you will give importance to jobs based on the economics of Lean Product Development. You can achieve it by dividing the cost of delay by the time it takes for completing the tasks. For instance, let us consider that the cost of a prospective feature is $100k per month. If so, a delay of three months would mean a cost of delay of $300K. 

You can frame this using different mathematical techniques. However, another technique is to think about what an organization will lose if something is not attended to or done. If not done, the tasks can lead to considerable losses. Not only financial loss but also it can lead to loss of reputation and even loss of subscribers. Of course, this technique involves a level of subjectiveness. Nevertheless, the subjectiveness will be less when compared to spending time to spot what task is the most important to whom.

6. Even Over Statements:

The answer to your question of how to prioritize backlog can be obtained with the help of a technique called Even Over Statements. It is a technique that depends on making open trade-offs between a couple or more options. When you intend to use this technique, you will have to brainstorm with your stakeholders or team for explaining everything that could be crucial or valuable to prioritize. You can consider grouping these into related topics. The success of this technique greatly relies on creating good even over statements. 

Conclusion:

Effective product backlog prioritization is crucial for delivering high-value software efficiently. By employing techniques like the Prioritization Matrix, MoSCoW, Bucketing System, Stack Ranking, Weighted Shortest Job-First, and Even Over Statements, Product Owners can systematically determine which tasks need immediate attention and which can wait. These strategies help streamline the workflow, ensure resource optimization, and enhance team productivity. Prioritizing the backlog not only aids in clear communication and better planning but also significantly impacts the overall success of the project. Simpliaxis offers a project management course to enhance your skills in managing and prioritizing product backlogs effectively.