Product backlog
The product backlog is the single, ordered, continuously-evolving list of everything that might be worth doing to improve the product: features, fixes, and changes. It is the one authoritative source of work for a Scrum team; if it isn’t on the backlog, the team isn’t doing it.
Each entry is a product backlog item (PBI), often written as a User story. The Product Owner owns and orders the list; the most valuable, most-ready items sit at the top, refined and small; items lower down are larger and vaguer on purpose.
Also known as
the backlog · PBI (for a single item) · “the product backlog”
Don't confuse with
- Sprint backlog: the subset the team has pulled into the current Sprint, plus the plan to build it. The product backlog is everything; the sprint backlog is just this sprint’s slice.
- A roadmap: a roadmap is a higher-level, time-oriented view of direction and themes. The backlog is the detailed, ordered work that delivers on it.
Key properties
- Ordered, not just prioritized: it’s a strict sequence, so there’s always a clear “next.”
- Emergent: it’s never “finished”; it changes as the product and market are understood better.
- Refined over time: see Backlog refinement. Top items are “ready”; deeper items are placeholders.
- Has a commitment: the Product Goal: the long-term objective the backlog is working toward (added in the 2020 Scrum Guide).
In plain English
One big, ranked to-do list for the whole product. The team always works from the top down.
In the real world / tooling
In tools like Jira, Azure DevOps, or Linear, the product backlog is the list of issues / tickets / work items. Note the terminology drift: what Scrum calls a product backlog item your tool may call an issue, a ticket, a card, or a work item (all the same idea).
See also
References
- K. Schwaber & J. Sutherland, The Scrum Guide (2020), “Product Backlog.” https://scrumguides.org/scrum-guide.html