Discover the power of pruning your feature backlog for greater clarity and impact. Learn how reducing a list from 120 to 15 items can drastically lighten your mental load. The discussion emphasizes prioritizing high-impact tasks and leveraging customer feedback. Streamlining your backlog not only boosts productivity but also aligns your product development with real user needs. Embrace the philosophy that sometimes, less truly is more!
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Archiving vs. Deleting
Archive tasks instead of deleting them.
Add comments explaining why you archived the task.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Delete If Unclear
Delete unclear backlog items if their purpose isn't readily apparent.
Don't waste time deciphering vague notes; past effort indicates their low value.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Solved by Adjacent Work
Arvid had a task for filtering alerts by ratings, which was already implemented through a broader search overhaul.
This is an example of how adjacent work can make dedicated backlog items obsolete.
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Sometimes, less is more. Here's how I pruned my feature backlog from 120 to 15 items.
I'll share my decision-making framework; every single rule comes with examples. Time to cut down on the mental load that is having too many "ideas" in your backlog.