Product Backlog
FAQ Glossary

What is a product backlog?

A product backlog shows what needs to be worked on in a product. The product backlog is a list of features, enhancements, bug fixes, architecture changes or any other adjustment that is applied to develop a product further. Ideally, the product backlog is aligned with the product roadmap.

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A product backlog is a list of features, enhancements, bug fixes, architecture changes or any other adjustment that is applied to develop a product further. Ideally, the product backlog is aligned with the product roadmap which describes the product direction along the time line. 

A product backlog is prioritized and shows what needs to be worked on. 

The following items can be contained in a product backlog:

  • ideas 
  • new features
  • small enhancements 
  • critical bug fixes
  • architecture changes
  • refactoring to support other changes
  • marketing activities
  • customer engagement activities 

Who uses a product backog?
The notion of a product backlog is typically being used in the software industry and can be partially applied to any other industry: physical goods, entertainment or services. Multiple stakeholders use the product backlog to align their requirements and dependencies to the product: software development, product management, marketing, sales and support need to be aligned. While these stakeholders are separate departments in enterprise organizations, they are represented by a few persons in start-ups and small companies. Indie makers and app developers are handling all these activities bootstrapped to their minimum as a one-person shop. For successful products the product backlog represents the product strategy translated into specific building blocks.

How can Productific improve a product backlog?
Maintaining a healthy product backlog is a heavy workload. It takes lots of time to keep priorities up to date an in line with ever changing customer demands. Productific supports that work: 

  • Feature voting and feature requests:
    Customers automatically prioritize your feature backlog and communicate their product demands to you.

  • Priorities:
    As a product owner, you can make informed decissions when identifying the most popular ideas. You use feedback data to decide what to build next. 

  • Inbound:
    Product feedback pages can generate leads for new customers and upsell potential. You see what users really want.

  • Outbound:
    Roadmap display and user notifications help you communicating what's next and what's new in the product so customers stay up to date.