Build the backlog

The first step in the development process is building and prioritizing the backlog. Use the Backlog module to achieve this.

In this topic:

Create the backlog

You can create a backlog either by entering items in the user interface, or by importing items from an Excel spreadsheet.

Follow the procedure below to create backlog items in the UI, or see Import from Excel to import your backlog from an Excel file.

To create a backlog item:

1. Open the Backlog module, and select either the Epics, Features, or Backlog Items tab.

2. Click + Add and select the item that you want to create: epic, feature, user story, or quality story.

   A shared space admin can also create shared epics . For details, see Shared epics.

3. Define the available fields. You can also click the Customize fields button to add or remove fields from the form. For details, see Forms and templates.

   You can also define the following optional fields:

   Field	Details
   Program	Enterprise Edition: Associate the item with a program. Add the Program field to the form and select the program. For details about programs, see Programs.
   Team	Assign an item to a team. If you already set the Program field, you can select from teams that are associated with the same program, or teams with no program association.

4. Optionally, use the Autofill feature to populate new backlog items with sets of predefined values. For details, see Fill in fields automatically.

5. Optionally, create tasks for a user story in the Tasks to generate field. For details, see Manage backlog items.

If necessary, you can change a backlog item's parent.

To change an item's parent:

• Drag the item to a different node in the tree.
• Edit the item's Feature or Epic field.

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Assign test coverage to backlog items

You can track the quality of features and stories by analyzing the status of the tests covering those items. One test can cover many backlog items, and one backlog item can be covered by many tests.

To define test coverage for a backlog item, do one of the following:

• In the Relations tab of a backlog item, link the defect to its covering test.
• In the Relations tab of a test, link the test to its covered backlog item.

The covered backlog item is listed in the test's Backlog Coverage field.

The covering tests are listed in the backlog item's Test Coverage field. The field represents the tests that cover a backlog item, grouped by their various statuses.

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Set fixed ranking

Architects or PMs can use ranking at the start of a release. Each team can then align their development priorities based on the ranking of the backlog items assigned to them.

You can set a fixed ranking for backlog items by different fields, either system or user-defined fields. This ranking method helps you preserve the ranks when items in the grid are grouped, sorted, or filtered by any other fields. For details on user-defined fields, see Custom fields.

Prerequisites

To set fixed item ranks, make sure the following prerequisites are met:

• The fields by which you want to rank items must be defined in the WORK_ITEM_FIELDS_ENABLED_FOR_SEQUENTIAL_RANKING parameter. For details, see Configuration parameters.
• You must have permissions to edit work items for which you need to set fixed ranks.
• The field by which you want to rank items must exist for the given item type. For example, if a field was created for defects only, you cannot rank user stories by this field.
• The field by which you want to rank items must be added as a column to the items grid.
• Items in the grid must not be grouped by any field.
• Items in the grid must be ordered in the way you want the items to be ranked.

To set fixed ranking by a specific field:

1. In the grid view, select work items that you want to rank.

   Make sure that the necessary field exists for all of the selected item types. You can also filter the grid to display only those item types for which the field exists.

2. In the toolbar, click More and select Set Sequential Ranking, or right-click the grid and select Set Sequential Ranking.

   If the Set Sequential Ranking option is not available, make sure that all of the prerequisites are met.

3. In the Set Sequential Ranking dialog box, enter values for the following fields:

Field	Details
Select field	Lists fields that were defined in the WORK_ITEM_FIELDS_ENABLED_FOR_SEQUENTIAL_RANKING parameter. Note: You can select from fields that exist only for the given item type. If the parameter includes only one field that exists for the given item type, the field value is auto-populated.
Start value	Determines the starting point for the ranking sequence. The start value must be greater than 0.
Increment	Determines the amount by which the ranking value increases. The increment range is from 1 to 1000. For example, to use a ranking sequence of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..., set the increment to 1.

Note: The selected values are saved in user settings. Next time you open the Set Sequential Ranking dialog box, the fields are auto-populated with the values you last used.

The items are ranked by the field specified in the dedicated parameter. The field name is displayed in the item details.

After setting fixed ranks for backlog items, you can:

Action	Details
Track ranking	An item's History tab displays all the details about the ranking operation: the date, ID of the user who performed the action, as well as the action details.
Add new items to the grid	New items are added to the top of the grid with no rank. You can manually rank the item by clicking in the empty cell and entering the rank value. The rank value can vary depending on an item's priority. To rank items in the grid sequentially again, click the header of the ranking field column.
Group items in the grid	When you group sequentially ranked items by any field, the original ranking is preserved, and it is no longer sequential.

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Set relative ranking

When ranked by the Rank field, backlog items do not have a fixed rank number. Instead, in any given grid, items are listed by order of their relative ranking, and are numbered sequentially from 1 to [no. of items in the grid]. New items are added to the backlog with the lowest rank.

When setting the relative ranking, consider the following points:

Points	Details
Always sequential	Items in the grid are ranked sequentially. If a team lead ranks ten features of a release from 1 to 10, and then divides them between the developers, developer A sees 1,2,3 reflecting the ranking of their features, developer B sees their features as 1,2,3, and developer C sees theirs ranked as 1,2,3,4.
Does not change from grid to grid	Ranking is across all of ALM Octane. For example, FAs and PMs can add items to a release to control which items are ranked in the release backlog, and this change is applied globally.
Editable	You can change an item's rank by changing the item's order in the grid. Conversely, changing an item's order in the grid also changes the item's rank. Note: You cannot clear ranking for separate items in the grid.
Role-based	You must have permissions to change an item's rank.

To set relative ranking by the Rank field:

1. Click the Rank column header to sort the grid by rank.

2. Use the following methods to change ranking:

   • Drag one or more items up or down the Grid View or Smart List View.
   • Click the rank number and type in a new value.
   • Right-click an item and select Rank Highest or Rank Lowest.

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Set ranking with WSJF attributes

The Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) formula is a well-established method for determining epic and feature priorities. It uses parameters and a calculated measurement to determine a WSJF score for an item.

In the feature or epic details, set the following field values:

Field	Value
Business Value	The item's value to customers or the business. For example, how the epic or feature affects revenue.
Time Criticality	The urgency to deliver the epic or feature.
RR | OE	The epic or feature's value in eliminating risks or creating new opportunities.
Cost of delay	The difference between an epic or a feature being available now or later. The Cost of Delay is the sum of the above components: Cost of Delay = Business Value + Time Criticality + RR | OE
Job size	The estimated length of time needed to finish the epic or feature. You measure this using your own unit, for example: hours or story points.
WSJF Score	The ratio of the cost of delay and the job size. The higher the WSJF score, the higher the priority of the epic or feature. WSJF Score = Cost of Delay / Job Size OR WSJF Score = (Business Value + Time Criticality + RR | OE)/Job Size

For the WSJF fields: Business Value, Time Criticality, and RR | OE, select a value from the list. For the Job Size measurement, enter any integer value.

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Define epic business values

You can track the perceived and actual business values of epics. This helps you prioritize epics based on the value they deliver, and determine the gap between the initial and final estimation of an epic.

Epic value definition

An epic value is based on several factors, such as customer value, commercial value, market value, efficiency value, and future value.

The epic value definition depends on the methodology adopted by the product team, and may vary across teams.

You can define an epic value in two stages:

Value	Description
Perceived value	The epic's initial value estimation that helps prioritize the epic relative to others. The perceived value is estimated by the product team when creating an epic and determining its business priority. Tip: The perceived value score should justify an epic's priority over other epics.
Actual value	The epic's true value, as concluded after the implementation and delivery of the epic. The actual value score is calculated by the product team to track the value gap for different epics over time. Note: Define the actual value in the epic details after the epic’s implementation.

After the epic actual value is defined, the value gap is automatically calculated. The value gap is the difference between the perceived and actual values of an epic.

Note:  

• You can edit the perceived and actual value scores in any phase of an epic. The value gap is automatically recalculated.
• You can use decimal numbers for value scores.
• Your admin can set the minimum and maximum value scores with the help of a business rule. For example: The perceived value field should be between 1 and 100. For details, see Design business rules.

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Create dependencies

Dependencies are relationships between activities that determine the order in which the activities need to be performed.

For details on adding dependencies, see Related items and dependencies.

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Track aged backlog items

You can track backlog items that remained in the same phase for an extended period of time. This tracking indicates which backlog items were not handled for an extended period of time, or that got stuck in a certain phase. This can reveal bottlenecks and wasted time in the development process.

To track these items, use the Days in phase read-only field, which shows the number of days that the backlog item remained in the same phase. You can add it into a grid as a column, use it in a filter, and sort the entities by this value.

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Set a red line

When working in the Backlog module's Features tab, you can add a red line to delineate a specific number of items or story points. For example, you can delineate three items that you plan to work on in the next few hours.

The red line allows you to view your goals and progress without having to add filters.

To add a red line:

1. In the Backlog module's Features tab, open the Grid or Slim Grid view.
2. In the toolbar, click Set Red Line.

3. Turn on the Show Red Line switch.

4. Select what you want to delineate: Story points or Items.

5. Set the number of story points or items and click Set. The red line is displayed in the grid.

   To modify your settings, click Set Red Line. You can display only one red line at a time.

6. Optionally:

   • Apply filters to show items for a specific milestone, sprint, or release. Click Show filter pane . Click + Add Filter and choose the time frame.
   • Save your red line placement as a favorite. For details, see Grids and views.

To remove a red line:

1. In the Backlog module's Features tab, open the Grid or Slim Grid view.
2. In the toolbar, click Set Red Line.

3. Turn off the Show Red Line switch.

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Next steps:

• Execute a release
• Create and run tests
• Update items
• Pipelines
• Quality