Website Backlog Overview

How does a backlog work?

A backlog is a prioritized list of new functionality, features, bugs, and any other new work items to be considered for the next work cycle. Ideally, stories in the product backlog contain enough information to allow the project team to provide an estimate for the work required to execute on each item as well as understand the relative priority of each item in relation to other work being considered.

Learn more about how backlogs work in this article and short video.

How do I let the Website Platform Team know about new work that my department needs support with?

Please add new items to Jira and they will be discussed at the next backlog grooming meeting. Alternatively, goals and needs can also be captured as new user stories during regularly scheduled check-ins and discussed at upcoming backlog grooming meetings.

What are user stories?

User stories are how we phrase new work items to keep our efforts focused on the customer or end-user and the value we want to provide them. Nearly every type of task can be phrased in this way. The basic format for a user story is:

As a < type of user >, I want < some goal > so that < some reason >.

Alternatively, these could be phrased as job stories:

When < something happens >, I want to < motivation > so that I can < expected outcome >

Sprint Cycle

Our team runs in 2-week sprints that start on Wednesdays every other week. This is a typical sprint cycle:

Sprint Dates: