This guide explores additional backlog item types beyond user stories. Lean-Agile practitioners can leverage these elements as needed and adapt them to their specific workflows.

Enablers

While user stories deliver functionality directly to the end user. Enablers deliver work items needed to support architecture, refactoring, and infrastructure and similar functionalities that don’t deliver directly value to the customer but enables value creating activities.

Enablers should be estimated similarly with the User Stories where possible.

Recommended Enabler Format

• Enabler Type (what): e.g. refactoring, infrastructure etc.
• Enabler Story (what/why)
  • Do (event) …
  • So …
  • Example: Update Terraform version from X to Y so we can have more reliable builds
• Context (why)
  • Brief explanation of why it’s needed
• Design Notes (what/how) (if applicable)
• Tech Notes (how) (if applicable)
• Expected Outputs/outcomes
  • List of expected outcome or outputs that we expect to see when the Enabler completed
  • Example:
    • Run new release on Terraform version Y on PreProd environment
    • Update Step by Step Release Plan document

Spike

Spikes have become an important part of team discovery and learning since originally identified by Extreme Programming (XP). The purpose of a Spike to gain the knowledge necessary to reduce the risk of a technical approach, better understand a requirement, or increase the reliability of a story estimation.

Spike is a time-boxed backlog item and we recommend teams to avoid estimation of spikes as they are in the unknown space.

Recommended Spike Format

• Context (why and what)
  • Brief explanation of why it’s needed and what is planned to do
• Tech Notes (how) (if applicable)
• Expected Outputs/outcomes
  • List of expected outcome or outputs that we expect to see when Spike completed
  • Example:
    • A document of alternative technologies with their cons and pros to Terraform

Bug/Defect

Bugs or defects are problems which impair or prevent the functions or usability of a product. They might have different critically levels based on their impact. However, in the Lean-Agile approach, we urge teams to prioritize bugs impacting users in the live environment above other backlog items, regardless of criticality level.

Teams might prefer to estimate some bugs as the solution might be estimable.

Recommended Bug Product Backlog item Format

Bug should be recorded as it can be reproduced by developers and testers.

• Description
• Steps to replicate the bug
  • Step1
• Expected outcome
• Actual outcome

Sub-Task

Sub task is a lowest level backlog item type that is used by the developers to split the work defined in User Stories or Enablers into small technical tasks. The format should be agreed by the developers.