Backlog Prioritization Techniques, Exams of Business

Download Backlog Prioritization Techniques and more Exams Business in PDF only on Docsity!

Backlog Prioritization Techniques

Common Agile Approaches to Prioritization of User Stories or Epics

Tom Taylor, Scrum Master & Pega Agilist

Scrum does not prescribe a specific method for prioritization

• But the PO is responsible for the prioritization of the Product Backlog
• In Scrum, a Sprint Backlog does not need to be prioritized as the Development Team commits to

delivering all of the User Stories. However, it is common for teams to maintain prioritization from

the Product Backlog

Prioritization techniques covered include:

• MoSCoW

• Risk-Value
• Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF)

Backlog Prioritization

While it’s easy to see that Feature 2 is the top-ranked item and Feature 6 is the lowest, note that:

• Stakeholder 2 sees all features as equally important
• Stakeholder 4 cares exclusively about the least prioritized feature
• Features 3 & 7 are tied at 37 points – additional discussion needed. Same for 1 and 4

MoSCoW – Point Value Example

Stakeholder

1

Stakeholder

2

Stakeholder

3

Stakeholder

4

Stakeholder

5

Total

Feature 1

7 10 7 3 7 34

Feature 2

10 10 10 3 10 43

Feature 3

10 10 10 0 7 37

Feature 4

10 10 7 3 3 34

Feature 5

7 10 7 0 7 31

Feature 6

3 10 0 10 0 23

Feature 7

7 10 10 3 7 37

M 10

S 7

C 3

W 0

Scale

Approach

• A side-by-side assessment of 2 features at a time
• Like an eye exam asking “which is clearer - A or B?”, determine if A or B is the higher priority
• Also known as Force-Ranking or “Bubble Sorting”

Guidelines

• A quick, effective tool that can be used in teams, with internal stakeholders, or even customers
• Always start at the top of the list, only comparing 2 items at a time
• Forces collaboration – requires good communication and negotiation
  • A facilitator can be useful

20/20 Technique

Approach

• Each feature is evaluated on its potential value, along with the perceived risk associated with

delivery

• In Scrum, attempt to start with high risk, high value first
• Or, alternatively consider delivering high value, low risk items for “quick wins”
• High risk, but low value items should be tabled or not considered part of MVP

Common Types of Project Risk

• Schedule Risk: “We may not be able to complete this feature in time”
• Cost Risk: “This feature may cost more than we expect”
• Functionality (Business) Risk: “This workflow may be all wrong”
• Technical Risk: “This may not perform at the level we need it to”

Risk / Value Technique

Risk/Value - Matrix

8

Adopted from: Agile Estimating & Planning by Mike Cohn

Backlog Prioritization Techniques

Risk

Value

High Risk

Low Value

High Risk

High Value

Low Risk

Low Value

Low Risk

High Value

Low High

Low

High

• Must-Have
• Must-Have
• Should-Have
• Should-Have
• Could-Have
• Won’t-Have

Note that MoSCoW

Priorization can be

applied to the

Risk/Value approache as

well.

Business Value

• Revenue Growth
• Business Strategy
• Cost-Savings
• Customer Satisfaction

WSJF – Category Factors

Time Criticality

• Financial Targets
• Conferences
  • PegaWorld, SKO
• Integration
• Acquisitions
• System Retirement
• Analyst Assessments

Risk Reduction/ Opportunity Enabler

• Market Penetration
• Speed, Quality, Delivery
• Architectural/Infrastructural

Investment

• Scalability
• Exploration
• Partnerships

WSJF - Formula

WSJF is the Cost of Delay divided by Job Size

• Each feature is assessed on a relative scale by the categories
• Start with the least-ranked feature and give it the lowest number
• Progress upwards through a single category before moving to the next one
• For Job Size, consult with team representatives

Cost of Delay

(Business Value + Time Criticality + RROE)

Job Size

1. Starting with Business Value, the least important

item is ranked as a 1. The next important

feature is given a 2, and so on

2. Comparative ranking proceeds to Time

Criticality, working again from low to high

3. Ranking continues to Risk

Reduction/Opportunity Enablement

4. Cost of Delay is the total of columns A, B and C
5. Job Size, like the other factors, is ranked

comparatively – with team representation

• Risk adds +2 points for Mobile Application

6. WSJF Rank is Cost of Delay is divided by the Job

Size

WSJF – Ranking Example continued

Feature A) Business

Value

B) Time

Criticality

C) RROE D) Cost

of Delay

(A+B+C)

E) Job

Size

WSJF

Score

(D/E)

New

Quickstart 3 1 1 5 1 5

DevOps

Investment 1 2 2 5 2 2.

Mobile

Application 3 3 3 9 5 1.

Per the example, the New Quickstart should be the highest prioritized item, followed by DevOps.

If Mobile Application is seen as a priority, then explore ways to mitigate the risks, lowering Job Size

Do’s

• Increase the weighting for uncertainty
• Keep focus on a single category at a time
• Involve representation from the team for Job Size estimate
• Retrospect on the rankings after delivery

Don’ts

× Assume actuals (# stories, point totals) for Job Size

× Think of Job Size in time units, think of complexity instead

× Be inflexible about the features. Like User Stories, ask if they can be split

WSJF – Do’s and Don’ts