What is Backlog Refinement?

Backlog refinement (formerly known as backlog grooming) is when the Product Owner (PO) and some, or all, of the development team review items on the backlog to ensure the product backlog items (PBIs) contains the appropriate criteria, that they are prioritized, and that the items at the top of the backlog are ready for delivery. This activity occurs on a regular basis and maybe an officially scheduled meeting or an ongoing activity. Some of the activities that occur during this refinement of the backlog may include:

• removing user stories that no longer appear relevant
• creating new user stories in response to newly discovered needs
• re-assessing the relative priority of stories
• assigning estimates to stories that have yet to receive one
• correcting estimates in light of newly discovered information
• splitting user stories which are a high priority to fit in an upcoming iteration

The reason for backlog refinement is to ensure that the backlog remains populated with items that are relevant, detailed and estimated to a degree appropriate with their priority, and in keeping with current understanding of the project or product and its objectives.

It’s a misconception to most, but not all user stories need to have been broken down to a granular level at the onset of the project, or given detailed estimates. It is important, however, that at any moment a “sufficient” number of stories should be ready for scheduling in the next few iterations. An Agile project is, no less than any other, subject to “scope creep”, in the form of user stories that do not really yield substantial value but were thought “good ideas at the time”, and entered into the backlog before they are forgotten.

In a complex environment, it always depends on what practices are helping in your context. User stories are not always a good idea, when you have no specific users to talk to. Collectively creating designs in drawings are not always helpful when you are dealing with mathematical problems.

Of course, there are a number of practices that might help you and your team with refinement. There are excellent ideas and concepts you can adopt with your team, use the power of Google!