Scrum Artifacts
The content that a scrum team produces represent work to be done, work that is done, prioritized value, and shared commitments.
Each artifact has a primary "commitment", a "true north" for reference when decisions need to be made while the artifact is being developed:
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An Increment is commited to the Definition of Done - when an increment is in question of completion, the Definition of Done should be the point of reference for clarity
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The Sprint Backlog is commited to the Sprint Goal - when the sprint backlog is up for grabs, the Sprint Goal should re-calibrate the team toward a shared goal
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The Product Backlog is committed to the Product Goal - when the product backlog is up for grabs, the Product Goal should re-calibrate the Product Owner to clarify the Product Backlog
The Product Backlog
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An always-developing representation of work that encapsulates all work to be done by the Scrum team
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Items in the backlog...
- can be subject to 'refinement', where the details are broken down and defined
- get converted to Sprint Backlog items when they can be done by the Scrum Team within one Sprint
- get sized by the developers, sometimes influenced by the Product Owner with trade-offs and clarification
The Product Goal
The Product Backlog is a representation of a commitment toward the Product Goal:
- A description of a state of the product to come in the future
- These can be used as a target for the Scrum Team to aim for during development
- Product goals are either (a) Fulfilled and completed or (b) abandoned and removed from the future scope of work
The Sprint Backlog
- Items picked from the Product Backlog selected to be completed during the sprint
- A plan by and for the developers that represents how the developers with achieve the Sprint goal
- Represents as close to a real-time picture of the work that is going on
- Commited to making the Sprint Goal a reality
The Sprint Goal
- Communicates to the Stakeholders why a Sprint is valuable
- A commitment that the Developers make to complete during the Sprint
- Created during sprint planning, and referenced during the Sprint to maintain coherence, focus, and mindful amongst the developers
An Increment
- A usable valuea-adding representation of a "step" toward the Product Goal
- Increments are not restricted to 1 per sprint - many Increments can be in a Sprint
- At the Sprint Review, all increments are present
- A single increment can be delivered to stakeholders prior to the end of the Sprint
- Increments must meet the Definition of Done
Definition of Done
- A description of quality measures required for the product
- Once the details of work meet this Definition, the work creates a complete Increment: when work does not meet this, it is not releasable
- This can be defined by the organization across Scrum teams or by a single team: If this is created by the Org, all Scrum teams must follow this Definition