Back to Basic Scrum Concepts

Product Backlog

5 minutes 5 Questions

The Product Backlog is a list of functionalities, features, or requirements to bring the project from ideation to completion. The items on the backlog, often referred to as 'stories', are presented by the product owner and usually respect a prioritization that obeys the project's business value. Each item must be clear enough to be understandable by every team member. The backlog is a live document that is updated and reprioritized as project requirements change.

Guide: Understanding and Examining the Product Backlog

What is the Product Backlog?
The product backlog is a list, prioritized by the Product Owner, of everything that needs to be done within the project. It contains an ordered list of product requirements that a Scrum Team maintains for a product.

Why is it important?
The product backlog is a key component in Scrum framework. It serves as a vital communication tool between the team and the stakeholders. It helps drive the direction of the work to be done and provides a shared understanding of the goal.

How it Works?
The Product Owner is responsible for the product backlog, including its content, availability, and ordering. The team then uses the product backlog as a basis for drawing up the sprint backlog. It's a living document, which means new items can be added, and existing ones can be updated or removed as necessary.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Product Backlog
1) Remember the Product Owner is the primary authority over the product backlog including ordering and prioritizing items.
2) Remember Product backlog is a dynamic dataset.
3) Understand the differences between product backlog, sprint backlog, and increment.
4) The product backlog should be DEEP – Detailed appropriately, Emergent, Estimated, and Prioritized.

Test mode:
Start practice test
CSM - Basic Scrum Concepts Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)

Question 1

During backlog refinement, the team notices some user stories are too large to fit into a single sprint. What's the appropriate course of action?

Correct Answer: Suggest splitting the user stories into smaller, manageable tasks.

The most suitable approach when a team realizes that some user stories are too large for a single sprint during the backlog refinement, is to suggest splitting the user stories into smaller, manageable tasks. This allows the team to better plan, test and integrate these functions within the shorter sprint timelines. Carrying over the large user story to the next sprint, as one of the options suggests, might derail the planning for that next sprint and doesn't solve the original problem of the story being too large. Encouraging the team to work overtime to complete the large user story is not sustainable or in line with Agile principles, which emphasize sustainable development speed. Finally, simply removing the large user stories from the backlog would mean ignoring potentially important functionality, hence it's not an appropriate solution.

Question 2

After a product backlog refinement, the team feels that the Product Owner has provided extensive and exhaustive requirement details, resulting in too much information than needed. As a Scrum Master, how would you handle this?

Correct Answer: Encourage the Product Owner to ensure that requirements in the Product Backlog are clear and to the point, potentially by decomposing complex items into more digestible pieces.

The correct answer promotes the effective management of the Product Backlog by ensuring that items are clear, brief, and manageable, aligning with Scrum's values of simplicity and focus. The incorrect answers, though related to Scrum practices, misinterpret the solution to the problem of over-detailed requirements. They either overshoot the problem's scope, like advising the Product Owner to provide even more details, or misapply Scrum practices, such as refining estimation techniques or prioritizing items based on detail level, which do not directly address the issue at hand.

Question 3

The Product Owner is struggling to prioritize the Product Backlog due to business stakeholders' conflicting interests. As the Scrum Master, what should you advise?

Correct Answer: Advise the Product Owner to take into account the stakeholders' feedback, project vision, and strategy to provide guidance while prioritizing.

The best answer is 'Advise the Product Owner to take into account the stakeholders' feedback, project vision, and strategy to provide guidance while prioritizing.' This is because, in Scrum, the Product Owner's responsibility is to represent the interests of the stakeholders and make decisions that align with the project vision and business objectives. Prioritizing the Product Backlog is one such critical decision and should be guided by stakeholders' feedback, project strategy, and vision. The other options are not considered best practice in Scrum. 'Suggest the Product Owner ignores stakeholders' input for simplicity' undermines the role of the stakeholders in giving feedback for backlog items. 'Recommend to delegate the responsibility of prioritization to the Scrum Team on a democratic basis' contradicts the Scrum principle of having the Product Owner as the single person responsible for maximizing the value of the product and work of the Development Team. 'Take over the prioritization process as a Scrum Master' is incorrect as the Scrum Master's role is to facilitate and coach teams, not to take over the role of the Product Owner.

Go Premium

Certified ScrumMaster Preparation Package (2024)

  • 3861 Superior-grade Certified ScrumMaster practice questions.
  • Accelerated Mastery: Deep dive into critical topics to fast-track your mastery.
  • Unlock Effortless CSM preparation: 5 full exams.
  • 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed: Full refund with no questions if unsatisfied.
  • Bonus: If you upgrade now you get upgraded access to all courses
  • Risk-Free Decision: Start with a 7-day free trial - get premium features at no cost!
More Product Backlog questions
22 questions (total)
Start 22 question test