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Create your product backlog in Azure Boards
Azure Boards
Learn how to add backlog items or user stories to plan your project, prioritize, and estimate deliverables in Azure Boards and Azure DevOps.
boards-backlogs
azure-devops-boards
04df6b31-ef6c-4285-81a6-96768f03ecf4
chcomley
chcomley
quickstart
<= azure-devops
11/02/2023

Create your backlog in Azure Boards

[!INCLUDE version-lt-eq-azure-devops]

The product backlog is your project plan, which shows what your team intends to deliver. It contains user stories, backlog items, or requirements that you add to it. Your backlog is a flat list of work items, as the following image illustrates, which shows a Scrum process for Azure DevOps Services. For the Agile, Basic, and CMMI process models, the Backlog items selection appears as Stories, Issues, and Requirements.

:::image type="content" source="media/create-backlog/intro-image.png" alt-text="Screenshot of a Backlog of Scrum process product backlog items.":::

[!INCLUDE temp]

[!INCLUDE temp]

Add a backlog

If you have a project, you have a backlog. Your backlog contains a list of features and requirements that you want to build, ordered by priority. By default, each project has a team and a set of backlogs for that team. You can add more backlogs if you need to support more teams. When you create a new team, you also create various team assets that a team admin can customize to suit the team’s workflow. To add a set of backlogs to support a new team, see Add a team.

Each team's set of backlogs is associated with one or more work item types. The work item type associated with a backlog depends on the process selected at project creation, team configurations, and process customizations.

The backlogs defined for each default process are:

::: moniker range=">= azure-devops-2019"

  • Agile: Stories, Features, and Epics
  • Basic: Issues and Epics
  • Scrum: Backlog items, Features, and Epics
  • CMMI: Requirements, Features, and Epics ::: moniker-end

::: moniker range=">= azure-devops-2019"

To customize your backlogs with custom work item types, add portfolio backlogs or other supported options, see Inherited process model or On-premises XML process model. ::: moniker-end

Open your backlog

From your web browser, do the following steps to open your product backlog.

::: moniker range=">= azure-devops-2020"

  1. Sign in to your project (https://dev.azure.com/{yourorganization}/{yourproject}).

  2. Select (1) Boards > (2) Backlogs.

    :::image type="content" source="media/create-backlog/open-backlogs.png" alt-text="Screenshot of sequence selection for opening Backlogs in Boards.":::

    To select a different backlog, choose a different team or select the View Backlog directory option. You can also enter a keyword in the search box to filter the list of team backlogs for the project.

    :::image type="content" source="../sprints/media/assign-items-sprint/backlog-team-selector-s155.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing team selection dropdown menu.":::

    [!TIP]
    Choose the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/icon-favorite-star.png" border="false"::: star icon to favorite a team backlog. Favorited artifacts (:::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/icon-favorited.png" border="false"::: favorited icon) appear at the top of the team selector list.

  3. Check that you selected Stories (for Agile), Issues (for Basic), Backlog items (for Scrum), or Requirements (for CMMI) as the backlog level.

    :::image type="content" source="media/create-backlog/backlog-selector.png" alt-text="Choose backlog level.":::

  4. (Optional) To display columns as you wish, select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/actions-icon.png" border="false"::: actions icon and Column options. For more information, see Change column options.

    :::image type="content" source="../sprints/media/assign-items-sprint/open-column-options-s155.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing Column Options button selection.":::

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="azure-devops-2019"

  1. Check that you selected the right project, and select Boards > Backlogs. Then select the correct team from the team selector menu.

    :::image type="content" source="../sprints/media/assign-items-sprint/open-work-backlogs-agile.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Open Boards > Backlogs, for a team.":::

    To select another backlog, open the selector and then choose a different team or select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/home-icon.png" border="false"::: Browse all backlogs option. Or, enter a keyword in the search box to filter the list of team backlogs for the project.

    :::image type="content" source="../sprints/media/assign-items-sprint/team-selector-backlogs-agile.png" alt-text="screenshot of Select another team.":::

    [!TIP]
    Select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/icon-favorite-star.png" border="false"::: star icon to make a team backlog a favorite. Favorite artifacts (:::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/icon-favorited.png" border="false"::: favorite icon) appear at the top of the team selector list.

  2. Select Stories for Agile, Issues for Basic, Backlog items for Scrum, or Requirements for CMMI as the backlog level.

    :::image type="content" source="../sprints/media/assign-items-sprint/select-product-backlog-agile.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Select product backlog level, Backlog items, Stories, or Requirements.":::

  3. (Optional) To select which columns display and in what order, select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/actions-icon.png" border="false"::: actions icon and select Column options. For more information, see Change column options.

    :::image type="content" source="../sprints/media/assign-items-sprint/open-work-backlogs-column-options-agile.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Open Column options.":::

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range=">= azure-devops-2019" [!INCLUDE temp] ::: moniker-end

Track bugs on your backlog

Some teams like to track bugs along with requirements on the backlog. Other teams like to track bugs as tasks completed in support of a requirement, so that bugs appear on their Taskboard. Before you determine how to manage bugs, see Configure and customize, Treat bugs as requirements or tasks and Show bugs on backlogs and boards.

Convert ideas into backlog items

Your backlog shows work that you plan to do or that's in progress. As soon as the State of a work item is set to Done or Completed, the work item doesn't show on your backlog. You can use the backlog controls to filter or change your view.

If you already defined a long list of items, you don't have to reenter them one at a time. Instead, use Import or update work items in bulk by using CSV files or Microsoft Excel to quickly import them to your backlog.

::: moniker range=">= azure-devops-2019"

  1. Before you add work items, select :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/view-options-icon.png" border="false"::: View options and turn the slider for Parents and Forecasting to Off. Optionally, turn In Progress Items on or off.

    :::image type="content" source="media/create-backlog/view-options-parents-off.png" alt-text="Screenshot of view options parents turned off.":::

  2. To add a work item, select :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/blue-add-icon.png" border="false":::New Work Item and enter a title. Then press Enter or select Add to top. Work items are automatically assigned the default Area Path and Iteration Path selected for the team. For more information, see Configure team settings.

    :::image type="content" source="media/create-backlog/add-new-items-agile.png" alt-text="Screenshot of work item added.":::

    [!NOTE]
    If you have Stakeholder access , you can only add work items to the bottom of the backlog. For more information, see Stakeholder access quick reference.

::: moniker-end

Depending on whether you create your project with Basic, Agile, Scrum, or CMMI, the items in your backlog might be called issues, user stories, PBIs, or requirements. All three are similar, as they describe the customer value to be delivered and the work to be performed.

By default, user stories appear on Agile backlogs, issues on Basic backlogs, PBIs and bugs appear on Scrum backlogs, and requirements appear on CMMI backlogs.

Reorder your backlog

Reorder your items to create a prioritized list of work. Review and prioritize your backlog frequently to help your team know what's most important to deliver next.

You can't sort your backlog on a column. To view a sorted listed, select Create query. Save and open the query, and then sort the query results. To learn more about queries, see Use the query editor to list and manage queries.

To reorder your backlog, drag the work items. Or, if you prefer to use the keyboard, hold down the Alt key and use the up and down arrows.

:::image type="content" source="media/create-backlog/cyb-order-backlog.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Reordered work items.":::

Note

To reorder a backlog, you must have Basic or higher level access. If you have Stakeholder access, you can't reorder backlog items. For more information, see Stakeholder access quick reference.

Backlogs that participate in portfolio management or that contain nested same-type child items might not allow you to reorder the items. For more information, see these articles:

Add details and estimates to backlog items

Building and prioritizing your backlog provides a high-level roadmap. Before your team can start work on any item, however, they need more details. Capture the details within the work item form.

To open each item, double-click or press Enter. Then add all the information you want to track. Change one or more field values, add a description, or make a note in the Discussion section. You can also choose the :::image type="icon" source="../media/icons/icon-attachments-tab-wi.png" border="false"::: Attachments tab and drag a file onto it to share the file with others.

Enter as much detail as the team needs to do the following tasks:

  • Understand the scope
  • Estimate the work required
  • Develop tests
  • Ensure that the end product meets acceptance criteria

[!INCLUDE temp]

Agile process

For example, here we assign the story to Raisa Pokrovskaya and we add a discussion note, at-mentioning Raisa.

:::image type="content" source="../get-started/media/plan-track-work/user-story-form-add-details.png" alt-text="Screenshot of User Story work item form, add details.":::

Select Save & Close when you're done.

Basic process

For example, here we assign the issue to Raisa Pokrovskaya and we add a discussion note, at-mentioning Raisa.

:::image type="content" source="../get-started/media/track-issues/issue-form-add-details.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Issues work item form, add details.":::

Choose Save & Close when you're done.

Scrum process

For example, here we assign the product backlog item to Christie Church and set an Effort level of 8.

:::image type="content" source="media/create-backlog/pbi-form.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Product Backlog Item form.":::

Choose Save & Close when you're done.

CMMI process

For example, here we assign the product backlog item to Jamal Hartnett and set Size to 8.

:::image type="content" source="../work-items/guidance/media/cmmi-requirement-form.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Requirements work item form.":::

Choose Save & Close when you're done.

To plan a sprint, at a minimum, estimate the effort involved to implement each backlog item. To capture effort in the work item form, use Effort for Basic or Scrum, Story Points for Agile, or Size for CMMI.

:::row::: :::column span=""::: Field :::column-end::: :::column span="3"::: Usage :::column-end::: :::row-end:::

:::row::: :::column span=""::: Effort, Story Points, Size :::column-end::: :::column span="3"::: Provide a relative estimate of the amount of work required to complete a PBI. For user stories and requirements, you capture estimates in Story Points and Size.

Most Agile methods recommend that you set estimates for backlog items based on relative size of work. Such methods include powers of 2 (1, 2, 4, 8) and the Fibonacci sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and so on). Use any numeric unit of measurement your team prefers.
The estimates you set for Effort, Size, or Story Points are used to calculate velocity and forecast sprints. :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span=""::: Business Value :::column-end::: :::column span="3"::: Specify a priority that captures the relative value of a PBI compared to other PBIs. The higher the number, the greater the business value.
Use this field when you want to capture a priority separate from the changeable backlog stack ranking. :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span=""::: Description :::column-end::: :::column span="3"::: Provide enough detail to create shared understanding of scope and support estimation efforts. Focus on the user, what they want to accomplish, and why. Don't describe how to develop the product. Do provide sufficient details so that your team can write tasks and test cases to implement the item. :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span=""::: Acceptance Criteria :::column-end::: :::column span="3"::: Define what "Done" means by describing the criteria for the team to use to verify whether the PBI or the bug fix is fully implemented.

Before work begins on a PBI or bug, describe the criteria for customer acceptance as clearly as possible. Have conversations between the team and customers to determine the acceptance criteria. These criteria help ensure a common understanding within the team to meet customers' expectations. Also, this information provides the basis for acceptance testing. :::column-end::: :::row-end::: :::row::: :::column span=""::: Impact Assessment (CMMI only) :::column-end::: :::column span="3"::: Describes the customer impact of not implementing the requirement. You might include details from the Kano model about whether this requirement is in the surprise, required, or obvious categories. :::column-end::: :::row-end:::

Show or hide In Progress Items

::: moniker range=">= azure-devops-2019"

From the View options selector, you can turn on In Progress Items. If you turn it off, then items that are in the Active, Committed, or Resolved states or states that map to the In Progress category state don't appear in the backlog.

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range=">= azure-devops-2020"

:::image type="content" source="media/create-backlog/in-progress-control-2020.png" alt-text="Screenshot of View options selector, In progress control.":::

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="azure-devops-2019"

:::image type="content" source="media/create-backlog/in-progress-control-2019.png" alt-text="View options selector, In progress control.":::

::: moniker-end

You'd likely choose to hide In Progress items when you want to forecast work. For more information, see Forecast your product backlog.

::: moniker range=">= azure-devops-2020"

Show or hide work items in Completed state

From the View options selector, you can choose to show or hide Completed Child items.

:::image type="content" source="media/create-backlog/completed-child-items-control-2020.png" alt-text="View options selector, Completed child items control":::

Choose to show Completed child items when you want to view rollup columns.

Choose to hide Completed child items when you want to forecast work. For more information, see Forecast your product backlog.

[!INCLUDE temp]

::: moniker-end

Your product backlog is one of three classes of backlogs available to you, backlogs, boards, and plans. If you don't see the work items you expect on your backlog, see Set up your backlogs and boards.

Next steps

With your backlog in place, your team can begin work on the top-priority items. Now it's time to decide how you want to work as a team. Do you want to use Scrum or Kanban? You can use these methods independently or together.

[!div class="nextstepaction"] Scrum: Schedule sprints or Kanban

Teams who want the least overhead for tracking and estimating might prefer Kanban. Teams who like to work at a steady cadence and plot the details of their sprint plan might prefer Scrum and sprint planning.

Related articles

::: moniker range=">= azure-devops-2020"

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="< azure-devops"

::: moniker-end