If you’re reading this, you’re either beginning your journey within the scrum framework or you’re taking on a more in-depth role for a product. No matter which it is, we’re going to break down scrum artifacts into easy-to-understand terms so you can get the most out of them.
My goal is to give you the knowledge we gained through our experience practicing scrum (while building a Jira alternative for software teams!), so you can apply it and gain weekly, bi-weekly and monthly progress.
What are scrum artifacts and why do we need them?
The term scrum artifacts refers to pieces of information attained throughout the scrum process or framework. There are three scrum artifacts: the Product Backlog, the Sprint Backlog, and the Product Increment. But, what exactly are these, when do they appear, and why?
Each one serves its own purpose:
Product Backlog
In short, the product backlog is an overall list of everything to include in the final product. By nature, it’s an ever-changing list and grows as the product is developed and new requirements are set. There are three main types of items in the product backlog:
- User stories: feature descriptions from the end user’s perspective
- Bugs: problems to address
- Tasks: assignments for the scrum team
Sprint Backlog
Each time the team runs a scrum sprint, there’s a to-do list for that specific sprint, which is the sprint backlog. Each task on that list goes through a variety of statuses throughout the sprint starting with “to do.” The task moves into “doing” as the team starts work and then “to verify” once the work is ready for review. Once verified by someone on the team, the task is marked as “done.”
Product Increment:
Arguably the most important of the scrum artifacts, the product increment includes each and every item marked “done” from a sprint. Of course, what is considered as “done” can vary depending on the product, so it’s important for the scrum team to have that information defined in advance.
Scrum Artifact Tip 1: Organize user stories
Scrum users must frequently inspect scrum artifacts and progress toward a sprint goal to detect where improvements can and should be made. A key step for starting this process is determining which user stories can and should be included in each iteration.
Not only can not all user stories fit within a single scrum sprint, but they often need to be released in different iterations to maintain efficiency. The point of scrum is to create an efficient process with many points of review and progress along the way. Determining a structure with organized user stories, even if you change it later on, will establish an efficient path to the final product.
Scrum Artifact Tip 2: Prioritize, reprioritize, and reprioritize again
You should be constantly refining the product backlog as you work. But this also means you should be reprioritizing each time. As the needs of the product evolve, so should the order of the tasks. What has secondary or even tertiary importance to the product owner now may be extremely prevalent in the next iteration.
Scrum Artifact Tip 3: Be detailed where (and when) it matters
The more of a priority an item has, the more detailed it should be. Adding enough information to the item will allow the team to execute it as expected and requested by the product owner. Likewise, the opposite is also true. For lower-ranking priorities, there can be fewer details. Instead, reserve your time for detailing high priorities. Over time, the lower-ranking priorities may evolve or even become superfluous to the final product. As they move up in the queue, you can add more details.
Scrum Artifact Tip 4: Involve the product owner
The scrum framework is all about efficiency but it doesn’t work on its own, or even with a full team on its own. It’s vital to have ongoing communication with the product owner. Be sure to continuously and routinely check in with the product owner each step of the way. The benefits are bountiful; the team will be able to rank items in the product backlog in a productive way and pivot as and when needed. Having an open channel of communication can also assist in managing expectations both for the product owner as well as the scrum team.
Scrum Artifact Tip 5: Remove the noise
Just because a task, item, or user story was originally listed does not mean it needs to be there forever. With the progress of the product, tasks and features may become superfluous to the end goal of the final product. Removing the excess tasks and assignments can clean up the process so the team can better focus on what is necessary. Don’t be afraid to put the sprint backlog or product backlog under scrutiny to determine what really needs to be there.
Getting The Most Out of Scrum Artifacts
Utilizing the scrum framework will undoubtedly prove to be more efficient for your product. At Tara, we recognize the value of these scrum artifacts, allowing us to use the framework to its fullest extent, expediting the workflow and creating a better product in less time.
Have your own tips to add to our list? Have you used this blog to implement the tips already? Share with us in the comments below - we’d love to hear how it worked out!
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