CAE Product Backlog Management 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A Product Owner wants to communicate the vision behind the product backlog to the development team. Which artifact BEST serves this purpose?
- The sprint backlog
- The product roadmap or product goal (Correct answer)
- The definition of done
- The release burndown chart
Correct answer: The product roadmap or product goal
The product goal (or roadmap) provides the overarching direction that connects individual backlog items to the broader product vision.
Question 2: During sprint planning, the team selects items from the top of the product backlog. Why is backlog ordering important in this context?
- It determines who will work on each item
- It ensures the highest-value items are considered first for the sprint (Correct answer)
- It automates task assignment within the sprint
- It sets the sprint duration for the team
Correct answer: It ensures the highest-value items are considered first for the sprint
Ordering ensures that when capacity is limited, the most valuable items are selected first, maximizing return on the team's effort.
Question 3: A Product Owner receives conflicting feature requests from marketing and engineering. How should this conflict be reflected in the backlog?
- Create separate backlogs for each department
- Prioritize based on the Product Owner's judgment of overall product value (Correct answer)
- Let the Scrum Master resolve the conflict
- Implement both features in the next sprint
Correct answer: Prioritize based on the Product Owner's judgment of overall product value
The Product Owner synthesizes stakeholder input and orders the backlog based on what will deliver the greatest overall product value.
Question 4: What is the primary risk of a product backlog that grows indefinitely without regular pruning?
- The team will run out of work
- Low-value or obsolete items clutter the backlog and obscure priorities (Correct answer)
- Story points become unreliable for estimation
- The sprint velocity will drop
Correct answer: Low-value or obsolete items clutter the backlog and obscure priorities
Without pruning, the backlog fills with stale or irrelevant items, making it harder to focus on what truly matters.
Question 5: A user story follows the INVEST criteria. What does the 'N' in INVEST stand for?
- Necessary
- Negotiable (Correct answer)
- Non-functional
- Numbered
Correct answer: Negotiable
Negotiable means the story's details are not fixed contracts but open to discussion between the team and Product Owner.
Question 6: When should a backlog item be considered 'ready' for sprint planning?
- When it has been in the backlog for at least two sprints
- When it has a clear description, acceptance criteria, and a relative size estimate (Correct answer)
- When the Product Owner has approved it in writing
- When the Scrum Master adds it to the sprint backlog
Correct answer: When it has a clear description, acceptance criteria, and a relative size estimate
A 'ready' item has enough detail—description, acceptance criteria, and an estimate—for the team to plan and commit to it.
Question 7: Which scenario represents a correctly written user story format?
- Build a login page with email and password fields
- As a registered user, I want to log in with my email so that I can access my account (Correct answer)
- Login functionality — high priority
- System shall authenticate users via email credentials
Correct answer: As a registered user, I want to log in with my email so that I can access my account
The 'As a [role], I want [goal], so that [benefit]' format captures the who, what, and why of the requirement.
CAE Product Backlog Management 3
A Product Owner wants to communicate the vision behind the product backlog to the development team.
Which artifact BEST serves this purpose?