People working in any Agile framework such as Scrum and extreme programming are familiar with the words “Priority” and “Order”. These two words are usually used in relation to Product Backlog. However these two words are not the same, there is a difference. The priority and order of a Product Backlog are distinct concepts, even though they are related. In this article you will learn the difference with couple of examples.
Priority
- Definition: Refers to the importance or urgency of a Product Backlog Item (PBI). It’s about how crucial a PBI is in achieving the Product Goal or addressing customer needs.
- Purpose: Helps the Product Owner and stakeholders determine which PBIs require immediate attention, based on factors like business value, risk, or technical dependencies.
- Who Sets It?: Often influenced by stakeholder input, customer feedback, or organizational needs.
Order
- Definition: Refers to the sequence in which PBIs are listed in the Product Backlog. The items at the top are generally addressed sooner than those further down.
- Purpose: Guides the Scrum Team on the sequence for tackling PBIs, ensuring the most valuable and feasible items are completed first.
- Who Sets It?: Managed by the Product Owner, who balances multiple factors (e.g., priority, dependencies, team capacity) to set the order.
Key Differences:
- Conceptual Difference:
- Priority is about importance.
- Order is about sequence.
- Interdependence:
- Priority affects the order but does not solely determine it.
- The order also considers dependencies, team skills, and technical constraints.
- Practical Example:
- A feature that has high priority (e.g., demanded by many customers) might not be at the top of the backlog order if it requires work on a lower-priority dependency first.
When explaining this, emphasize that priority informs order, but the Product Owner takes a holistic view of various factors to decide the most effective sequence for delivering value.
Imagine you’re developing a task management app. The Product Backlog contains the following items:
- Feature A: Add a dark mode (Priority: High).
- Feature B: Integrate with Google Calendar (Priority: High).
- Feature C: Improve app performance (Priority: Medium).
- Feature D: Add multi-language support (Priority: Low).
Priority View:
Based on stakeholder input:
- Dark mode and Google Calendar integration are crucial to meeting user demands, so they are given high priority.
- Performance improvements are nice-to-have and get medium priority.
- Multi-language support is needed eventually but is less urgent, so it gets low priority.
Order View:
Now, consider how these items might be ordered in the Product Backlog:
- Feature C (Improve app performance) is placed first because a stable and fast app is foundational for adding features like dark mode or calendar integration. Without good performance, other features might result in a poor user experience.
- Feature B (Google Calendar integration) is ordered second, as it’s high-priority and aligns with the marketing team’s plan to promote the app’s integration features.
- Feature A (Dark mode) is ordered third, as it’s a standalone enhancement and doesn’t rely on Feature C or B.
- Feature D (Multi-language support) stays at the bottom because it’s lower in priority and can be deferred.
Final Backlog (Ordered)
- Improve app performance (Feature C).
- Integrate with Google Calendar (Feature B).
- Add dark mode (Feature A).
- Add multi-language support (Feature D).
Key Takeaway:
While dark mode and calendar integration have high priority, the order reflects additional considerations like dependencies, the technical sequence, and ensuring foundational work is done first. This example demonstrates how priority informs order, but they are not the same.
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