Overview

Creating and managing product backlog items is crucial to the agile process. This documentation provides detailed instructions on how to create product backlog items in Sierra Agility and an overview of the fields and tabs associated with them.

How to Create Product Backlog Items

Step-by-Step Instructions

Accessing the Product Backlog

• From the Main Dashboard:
  • Click on the “Product Backlog” button on the Product card.
• From the Product Dashboard:
  • Navigate to the Product Dashboard.
  • Click on the desired product backlog.
• Opening the Product Backlog Listing
  • Either approach will open the product backlog listing for the selected product.
• Creating a New Product Backlog Item
  • Click on the “Create New” button.
  • The product backlog item edit form will open.

Product Backlog Item Fields

Required Field

• Title:
  • This is a required field.
  • Typically used to place the user story.

Optional Fields

• Description:
  • Not required.
  • Used to provide additional supporting information about the product backlog item.
  • Spark, the Sierra AI, uses the title and description to determine how to slice the product backlog item into smaller pieces.
• Solution:
  • Not required.
  • Details how the team plans to solve the product backlog item.
  • Recommended to be used during Sprint Planning.
  • Spark uses the solution to help generate tasks.
• Type:
  • Details the purpose of the product backlog item.
  • Can be a defect, feature, or spike.
  • Defaults to defect.
  • Product backlog items cannot be refined if they aren’t features.
• Size:
  • Not required.
  • Used to estimate the effort required to complete the product backlog item.
• Value:
  • Not required.
  • Used to help properly order the product backlog based on its importance.

Additional Features

• Tags:
  • Tags can be added in a free-form manner.
  • Used to help identify and group related product backlog items.

Product Backlog Item Tabs

• Personas Tab
  • If any personas have been assigned to the product, they can be selected as users of the product backlog item.
• Acceptance Criteria Tab
  • Acceptance criteria can be manually entered or automatically generated by Spark.
  • Acceptance criteria play an important role when using Spark to refine the product backlog item into smaller items.
• Test Cases Tab
  • Test cases can be manually entered or automatically generated by Spark.
• Comments Tab
  • Comments can be manually added by the user.
  • Some system-generated comments may also be added.

By following these instructions and utilizing the various fields and tabs available, you can efficiently create and manage product backlog items in Sierra Agility. This ensures a well-organized and detailed product backlog, facilitating better sprint planning and execution.