Product Backlog Items (PBIs): Types, Examples & Best Practices

A Product Backlog Item, or PBI, is a piece of work that a Scrum Team may need to do to improve a product. It could be a new feature, a bug fix, a technical change, an activity of research, or other work that creates value or helps the team toward the Product Goal.

PBIs form the basis of a product backlog. They help the Product Owner and Scrum Team understand what needs to be done and why, how much work might be involved, and where it fits in the sequence of work.

The Scrum Guide does not prescribe a single format or set of types of PBIs. The attributes of the product backlog items differ, and they are refined over time. A PBI can be a simple idea and gets more detailed as the team learns more information.

Why Learn PBIs? An unmanaged backlog can quickly become a long list of vague requests. A well-maintained backlog gives the team visibility into what work lies ahead, without having to detail every item to the same level of detail up front. Product Owners can be more effective in their backlog work if they understand how to create, refine, prioritize, and manage PBIs. If you are interested in developing your Product Owner skills, you may also want to consider a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)certification that discusses core Scrum and Product Owner practices relevant to managing product backlogs.

What Is a Product Backlog Item (PBI)?

A Product Backlog Item (PBI) is an item in the Product Backlog that describes work the Scrum Team may need to do.

So, for instance, think of a food delivery product. Entries in a Product Backlog can be like:

• Add option to save delivery address.
• Fix an issue with the confirmation of payment delay.
• Improve search query response time.
• Check whether it is technically feasible to implement a new payment method.
• Replace a component of the old system.
• Add support for a new language.

Each of these can be written as a PBI.

A PBI is not always a user story. User stories are one popular way to write PBIs. Scrum does not require that every PBI be written in the "As a user, I want..." format. PBIs may be written as defect reports, technical work, experiments, improvements, or other formats that make the work understandable to the team. 

The information content of a PBI can also change over time. An item added to the bottom of the backlog might have only a short description. If it becomes more important, the team can flesh it out with details, acceptance criteria, estimates, dependencies, and other useful information.

The trick is to be clear at the right time. A PBI needs to contain enough information for those working on it to know what needs to be done without creating unnecessary documentation. 

PBI vs. Epic vs. User Story vs. Task 

These terms are often used together, but they are not the same thing.

A PBI is the generic Scrum term for an entry in the Product Backlog PBI may be a user story, bug, technical item, or research item.

An epic is a large body of work that is related. It is too big to be delivered in one small item, so it is split into smaller items. Now, Scrum itself does not require epics. These are a common planning practice for organizing larger work.

A user story is a statement of need from the user's or customer's perspective. It’s what someone seeks and the value they anticipate from it.

A task is a smaller piece of work to complete a larger item. For example, a user story to save an address might have tasks like creating the database change, updating the form, and testing the feature.

But this is not a necessary Scrum hierarchy. Scrum defines the Product Backlog and the Product Backlog Items, but not the parent-child structure that all teams need to follow. Different teams and tools can have different structures.

PBI vs. Product Backlog vs. Sprint Backlog

The three terms have different meanings.

Product Backlog is an ordered list of things to do to improve the product. This is the only place where the Scrum Team gets its work.

A PBI is a single item in the Product Backlog.

The Sprint Backlog is the set of the Sprint Goal and selected Product Backlog Items for the 

Sprint and the team’s plan for delivering the Increment.

For example: 

• Product Backlog: All known work on the product.
• PBI: Let customers save multiple addresses.
• Sprint Backlog: The chosen PBIs and the plan for achieving them in the Sprint.

There are likely to be many items in the Product Backlog that won’t be worked on right away. Only some items get selected for a particular Sprint. 

What are the Core Types of Product Backlog Items (Scrum-Native)?

There is no official Scrum list of "seven PBI types." The Scrum Guide does not specify categories like epics, user stories, bugs, or spikes as mandated Scrum item types. These categories are often used by teams to help them understand and manage different kinds of work.

Epics

An epic is a large body of work that can be broken down into a number of smaller stories. For example:

Epic: Improve client account experience.

Some of these may be smaller PBIs like:

• Allow customers to update personal details.
• Add support for profile pictures.
• Add preferences for account notifications.
• Allow customers to edit their saved addresses.

With an epic, the team gets a broader view of the work. The smaller PBIs are easier to estimate, prioritize, discuss, and deliver the work.

Epics can be open and span multiple Sprints. They are typically used to give a higher-level view rather than the smallest unit of delivery.

User Stories

A user story is a description of a need for a product, written from the perspective of a person who will use the product.

A frequent format is:

As a [type of user], I want to [something] so that I can [benefit].

For example:

As a customer, I want to be able to save multiple delivery addresses so that next time I order, it’s faster. The story is about the need of the user, not about every technical step to build it.

A good user story has enough context that the team can talk through what the outcome should be. Then you can add details in the form of acceptance criteria and further polish the story. 

Tasks

A task is a small piece of work that contributes to completing a larger product backlog item.
For example, if the PBI is: As a customer, I want to save multiple delivery addresses so I can make future orders faster.

Possible tasks might include:

• Create the address structure.
• Add a save address option.
• Update the address picker screen.
• Test creation/deletion of addresses.

Tasks are helpful when a team needs to break down work into smaller steps to execute.

A task is not a PBI. In many Scrum implementations, the larger value-focused item is the Product Backlog, and tasks are created when the selected work is planned for a Sprint.

Bugs

A bug is a defect in the current product that needs to be repaired.

For example:

Bug: Customers are given an error after valid payment submission.

A good bug PBI needs to describe the problem in enough detail that the team can reproduce and investigate it. Depending on the process, it can consist of:

• What went down.
• What was anticipated.
• Reproduction Steps.
• Impact zone.
• Logs or screenshots, or any evidence.
• Severity or impact.
• Fix acceptance criteria.

Different teams might handle bugs differently. Some teams leave bugs in the Product Backlog. Others track a few defects as part of the work to complete another PBI. What is important is that the approach chosen by the team should keep the work visible and manageable.

Technical Debt

Technical debt is the future cost of technical decisions, shortcuts, old components, and other technical issues that make future work more difficult or more risky.

A technical debt PBI could be:

Replace the legacy auth component with a supported one.

Another example would be: 

Refactor the order calculation module to remove duplicated logic.

Technical debt shouldn't be an invisible list that only developers own. If it affects product work, speed of delivery, quality, reliability, or risk, the impact should be visible when the team is planning work.

Technical work in other PBIs can also be used to address technical debt. There is no required representation for it. The important thing is that the team can see the work and how it is influencing the product.

Improvements & Enhancements

An improvement is a change that makes something better.

Such as:

Enhance the product search so that customers can sort by price range.

This is not the same as building a new search capability from scratch. The basic search is already there, and the PBI is an improvement to that experience.

Other instances are:

• Increase page loading time.
• Edit an existing form.
• Add sorting to a list you already have.
• Better error messages.
• Reduce the number of steps needed to act.

The improvement can be based on consumer feedback, product data, usability testing, technical findings, or business needs.

Spikes / Getting knowledge

A spike is a time-boxed research or investigation activity. It is used when the team does not have enough information to make a decision or estimate the work with confidence.

For example:

See if the current payment system supports recurring payments.

The expected result might not be a new customer-facing feature. Instead, the outcome could be a technical finding, recommendation, prototype, or decision that guides the team as to what should happen next.

Spikes are particularly useful in situations of high uncertainty. You should know what you want before you start the investigation. Otherwise, a spike can become an open-ended research effort with no useful outcome. 

What are the Extended Types of PBIs by Business Drivers?

PBIs can also be grouped by the reason the work exists. These are not official Scrum categories. These are useful lenses for understanding the origin of backlog items.

Customer & Stakeholder Driven

These PBIs come from customers, users, internal stakeholders, or anyone else who has a stake in the product.

Some typical examples are:

Feature Requests

A customer can ask for a new capability.

Example: 

Add functionality to download monthly account statements.

Example:

Streamline the account cancelation process following numerous customer complaints.

Integration requests 

The product may need to interface with another system, such as a business partner or an internal system.

Example:

Add an integration that pushes approved orders to the finance system.

The important part is not to add every request automatically. Once the team understands the problem, the expected value, and why the request belongs in the Product Backlog, the request becomes a useful PBI.

Quality & Risk-Driven

Some PBIs exist because the product has to be secure, reliable, compliant, or stable.

Update Security

Example:

Update an insecure library found during a security audit.

Regulatory or compliance work

Example:

Modify the data retention process to meet the new internal compliance requirement.

Performance tuning

Example:

Reduce the response time of the product search endpoint under the agreed load.

Occasionally, these things may not yield a new visible feature but can still be important product work.

Research & Growth-Driven

These are PBIs that support product discovery, expansion, or evidence-based decision-making.

Market research projects

Example:

Research target customers’ demand for a subscription option.

Discovery items

Example:

Interview selected users to understand the drop-off from the registration process.

Localization

Example:

Prepare the checkout experience with new supported languages and regional formats.

Research items should have a clear question or outcome. An ambiguous item like “Research customers” does not give the team much guidance.

Operational 

Operational PBIs are required to keep a product running and maintained.

For example:

• Updates on infrastructure.
• Monitoring progress.
• Updates to documentation.
• Backup changes.
• Migration task.
• Removal of an old feature.
• Deprecation planning.

Example:

When you are sure that there are no active users of the old reporting endpoint, you can remove it.

Operational work should be visible where it impacts product risk, capacity, cost, quality, or delivery. 

Anatomy of a Well-Written PBI

A concise PBI doesn’t need to be long. It needs to have the right information.

Title & Description

The title should tell the reader what the item is about.

Poor title:

Login changes 

Better Title:

Allow customers to reset passwords by email verification.

The description should provide enough context to explain the need.

For instance:

Right now, if a customer forgets their password, they have to call support. Password reset flow with email verification for self-service.
The problem is to find the sum of all numbers in the range [1, 100000] that are not divisible by 3 or 5. I want to find this sum.

Acceptance Criteria 

Acceptance criteria are the conditions that must be met for a specific PBI to be accepted.

Criteria for the password reset example could be:

• The customer can then request a reset of the password using the registered email address.
• A reset link has been sent to the registered address.
• The link is valid only for the defined validity period.
• Once successfully verified, the customer can set a new password.
• If the link is invalid or expired, a message is shown accordingly.

Acceptance criteria should be clear and measurable. They are PBI-specific and should not be confused with the Definition of Done, which applies more generally to the Increment's quality standard.

Estimate / Story Points

An estimate gives the team an idea of the size of the work. Many Scrum Teams use story points as a relative measure. Some teams may choose to use 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 13. What matters more than the actual size is that the team uses it consistently.

Do not confuse story points with hours. Generally, a higher point value means that the item involves more effort, complexity, uncertainty, or risk than smaller items.

In Scrum, sizing product backlog items is the responsibility of the developers doing the work. The product owner can provide context and help clarify trade-offs but should never dictate the team’s estimate. Professionals looking to strengthen their understanding of Scrum roles and practices can exploreCertified ScrumMaster (CSM) Certification to build a stronger foundation in Scrum. 

Labels & Priority

Priority helps the team understand the order in which to consider work.

Labels can provide additional information, for example:

• Security
• Customer demand
• Performance
• Conformance
• Technical debt
• Research & development

Labels should help us understand. They shouldn’t create a big set of unnecessary categories.

The Product Owner is responsible for prioritizing the Product Backlog. This prioritization order should be based on current knowledge of value, risk, urgency, dependencies, and so on.

Dependencies (soft vs. hard)

An item is said to have a dependency if it depends on some other item or external condition. A hard dependency means that the work cannot reasonably begin until another item is completed.

For example:

PBI A: Develop new payment service

PBI B: Implement recurring payment functionality using the new service.

PBI B could depend directly on PBI A.

A soft dependency is one where another item would make the work easier, safer, or more efficient, but the work can be done without it. A documentation change might be easier once a feature is finalized but doesn’t technically block the feature.

Dependencies should be visible, since hidden dependencies can cause delays during a Sprint. Understanding how teams identify, manage, and communicate dependencies is an important part of effective Agile delivery. Professionals looking to build their Agile project management skills can exploreAgile Project Management Certification for structured learning in Agile practices. 

How to Write Effective PBIs?

The longest PBI is not always the best. This is the one that offers the team enough information to understand the work and to have a meaningful conversation about it.

The User Story Template (“As a… I want… So that…”)

The usual user story format is:

As a [user], I want [goal] so that I can [benefit].

As a customer, I want to be able to save my preferred payment method so I don't have to enter it each time I make a purchase. This format keeps the focus on the user and the reason why they are making the request. But it shall not be used mechanically for each PBI. You may express a security update, technical migration, or research spike more clearly in another format. It does not follow a rule of writing but is meant to be clear in the format.

Applying the INVEST Criteria

INVEST is a checklist frequently used for evaluating user stories. Which means this:

Independent 

The story should depend on other stories as little as possible.

Negotiable

The story should describe the need without forcing the team into unnecessary implementation details.

Valuable 

The story should provide a clear benefit to a user, customer, business,What are the Extended Types of PBIs by Business Drivers or product.

Estimable 

The team should have enough information to estimate the size.

Small 

The story should be small enough to plan and deliver in a reasonable amount of time.

Testable

The team should be able to tell whether it has achieved the expected result.

INVEST is a useful check, not a hard and fast Scrum rule. Not every story will completely satisfy every point, especially when dependencies or uncertainty cannot be avoided. Professionals looking to strengthen their Agile and Scrum knowledge can exploreProfessional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO) Certification for further learning on Product Owner practices. 

Ready for Development Checklist (Definition of Ready)

A Definition of Ready (DoR) is an optional team artifact. It defines the criteria a team uses to determine if a PBI is sufficiently clear to be considered for a Sprint. This is not part of the Scrum Framework.

A practical checklist could be:

• The PBI is evident.
• The expected outcome is obvious.
• The acceptance criteria are available where needed
• The important dependencies are known.
• Small enough for a Sprint to think about.
• There is enough data for the team to estimate it.
• The big questions have been answered.
• All the necessary research is done.
• The PBI is intelligible to the people who are doing the work.

Keep the checklist simple. If a team is spending more time doing the DoR than they are doing the actual work, it’s become too heavy. 

What are the Best Practices for Managing PBIs?

Good PBI management is an activity that continues. The Product Backlog needs to change as the team learns more about the product, users, technology, and business environment.

Keep Backlog Prioritized (MoSCoW, RICE, Kano)

There isn’t one way to prioritize products.

MoSCoW groups work into categories:

• Must have
• Should have
• Could have
• Won’t have for now

It is useful when the team wants a simple way to discuss scope.

RICE employs four factors:

• Reach
• Impact
• Confidence
• Effort 

It can help teams compare ideas in a more structured way.

Kano examines how varying product qualities might affect customer satisfaction. It classifies needs into categories, including basic expectations, performance needs, and features that can create additional satisfaction.

These tools are aids to decision-making, not substitutes for product judgment. A score should not automatically determine the order of the backlog. Teams should also include risk, dependencies, timing, product goals, technical constraints, and new information.

In Scrum, the Product Backlog is ordered, not a list of priorities that can’t be changed. That order is still owned by the Product Owner.

Refine Regularly (Backlog Grooming Cadence)

While the term “backlog grooming” is still popular, Scrum calls it “product backlog refinement."

Refinement is the process of breaking down and elaborating items in the product backlog. This may involve adding details, clarifying requirements, refining acceptance criteria, identifying dependencies, and revising estimates.

Scrum doesn’t require a certain number of hours of refinement every week. Teams should select a cadence that supports their work. Professionals who want to strengthen their understanding of Scrum practices can exploreScrum Master Certification Training for structured learning on Scrum roles, events, and practices. 

Regularly refining is a way to circumvent a common trap: arriving at Sprint Planning with items that are too fuzzy to properly discuss.

Scrum Guide describes refinement as a continuous activity and not a one-off meeting.

Break down Large Items (Epics → Stories → Tasks)

Big PBIs are hard to estimate and hard to deliver.

Assume the article is:

Create a full customer loyalty program.

This topic is probably too broad to be useful as a single delivery item.

It might be fragmented into smaller chunks:

Epic: Customer Loyalty Program

PBI 1: Customers can see their loyalty points.

PBI 2: Customers earn points after a qualifying purchase.

PBI 3: Customers can view their point history.

PBI 4: Customers can redeem points for rewards that are available.

Once a PBI is selected for a Sprint, the team might break the work into smaller implementation tasks.

You are not trying to make as many items as possible. The goal is to produce artifacts that the team can understand, discuss, estimate, and deliver successfully.

Track and Label Dependencies 

Whenever possible, dependencies should be identified during refinement.

For each dependency, ask:

• What is this PBI dependent on?
• Who's dependent upon whom?
• Is the dependency a showstopper?
• And what if there is a delay?
• Can the work be redesigned to decouple it?

Visible dependencies are plannable. A dependency discovered partway through a Sprint can create needless delays.

Work management tools also provide a way to link related items and dependencies, aiding teams in maintaining traceability.

Balance Feature Work with Technical Debt

A backlog that consists solely of new features can become increasingly difficult to maintain.

Technical work (debt, security, performance improvements, infrastructure changes, and other technical work) may compete with customer-facing work. They should not be automatically overlooked because they are less visible.

A delay in a small technical improvement may seem harmless. If the same problem makes every future feature harder to build, its cost can grow over time.

The right mix depends on the product, existing risks, customer needs, technical condition, and business goals. 

What are the Common Mistakes When Managing PBIs?

Several mistakes can make a Product Backlog more difficult to work with.

Writing PBIs that are overly vague

An item like "Improve the website" doesn't give the team any context about what to change or why.

Adding too much detail too soon

It is not necessary to have a full technical specification at the start of a PBI. The details should become more specific as the item becomes more important and closer to delivery.

Convert each PBI into a user story

Some work just doesn’t fit nicely into the user story form. Direct writing may be more obvious, especially for a technical investigation or defect.

Maintaining all at the same priority

If everything is urgent, then ordering no longer provides any useful information.

Manufacturing duplicates

Multiple requests make the backlog increasingly difficult to manage and can lead to the same work being discussed repeatedly.

Keeping everything as the same priority 

The Product Backlog should change as knowledge changes. Delete, merge, or move down the list items that don’t add value anymore.

Ignoring dependencies

A PBI might be small but still blocked by another system, team, approval, or technical change.

Commitments as estimates

Estimates give a sense of magnitude relative to teams. These are not to be taken as guaranteed delivery dates.

Writing PBIs from only the technical point of view

The team has to understand the product need, not just the implementation work.

Breaking work into tasks too soon

If every idea immediately turns into a set of tasks, the backlog can get messy. Detailed planning of implementation is generally more useful when work is close to selection.

Confusion between Definition of Ready and Definition of Done

Ready means the team has enough clarity to start thinking about doing the work. “Done” sets the standard for the quality of work that is considered "done." The two serve different functions. 

PBI Examples in Practice

Here are some ways that different needs can be turned into PBIs.

Example 1. New Feature

Title: More than one delivery address

Description: Customers can save multiple delivery addresses and choose a saved address during checkout.

Acceptance criteria:

• A customer can add a new address.
• A saved address can be modified by customers.
• A customer can delete a saved address.
• At checkout, customers can choose one of their saved addresses.

Type: User story / Feature

Example 2: Bug

Title: Total order is wrong after discount

Description: When a discount is applied, the order total doesn’t always update correctly.

Acceptance criteria:

• The correct total, including the discount, is displayed.
• Change the number, and the sum remains the same.
• The charge shows the final amount before payment.

Type: Bug 

Example 3: Tech Debt

Title: Substitute unsupported system component

Description: Upgrade the unsupported component to a supported version to reduce maintenance and security risk.

Acceptance criteria:

• This is the supported version.
• Existing functionality continues to work.
• Tests required succeeded.
• No known outstanding compatibility issues.

Type: Technical debt

Example 4: Research Peak

Title: How to get help for recurring payments

Description: Check with your current payment provider whether they can handle recurring payments and what needs to be changed.

Expected outcome:

• The technical feasibility has been proven.
• Major limitations are presented.
• List of changes needed.
• A rough scheme of implementation is outlined.

Type: Spike

Example 5: Better Performance

Title: Improve Search Response Time

Description: Enhance the search experience to achieve results within the agreed performance target under expected usage conditions.

Acceptance criteria: 

• The agreed performance target is entered.
• Tests are conducted under the given conditions.
• The goal is achieved without changing existing search behavior.

Type: Technical Enhancement/Improvement

Example 6: Working on Operations

Title: Remove unused reporting endpoint

Description: Delete an old reporting endpoint if you confirm that no active product flow uses this.

Acceptance criteria:

• Usage has been checked.
• Dependent flows are confirmed
• Required users have been informed where necessary
• The endpoint is safely retired.

Type: Operations

These examples illustrate why you do not want to restrict a Product Backlog to one type of item. Product work can be customer-facing features, defects, technical changes, research, performance work, and operational needs. 

What are the Tools for Managing Product Backlog Items?

Different work management tools can be used by teams for managing PBIs. The right one depends on your team size, your workflow, your reporting needs, your integrations, and how much structure you need.

Jira

Jira supports Scrum and Kanban workflows, and allows teams to create and organize work items such as stories, tasks, bugs, and epics. You can order work with its backlog view and plan items in Sprints.

Commonly used by teams that require detailed issue tracking, workflow, reporting, and linking related work.

Azure Board

Azure Boards provides backlogs and work items to plan and track development work. Depending on the process they choose, teams might use product backlog items, user stories, tasks, bugs, features, and epics.
It also supports backlog ordering, hierarchy, work item linking, dependencies, estimates ,and sprint planning.

Trello 

Trello uses boards, lists, and cards to organize work. It can be useful for teams who want a simple visual workflow without a complicated backlog structure.

A card can represent a PBI, and checklists and other information are used to manage the work.

GitHub Projects

GitHub Projects lets you organize issues and pull requests into project views. Fields, filters, and different views help teams manage development work in parallel with their code workflow.

Spreadsheet

For a small team or a simple project, a spreadsheet will do as well. The tool itself doesn’t make a Product Backlog effective. A simple, well-maintained backlog is more helpful than a complex tool with unclear items. 

Conclusion 

Managing the backlog items helps Scrum teams keep product work clear, organized, and value-focused. Each PBI should give the team enough clarity to make informed choices regarding the work, from writing useful user stories and setting acceptance criteria to refining, prioritizing, and tracking dependencies. A Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) certification can offer structured training in Scrum and Product Owner practices for professionals seeking to advance their Product Ownership and backlog management skills.