When is it okay to delete a userstory from the backlog [closed]

Question

If I am grooming the backlog and I see a user story that is completely valid but is ultra low priority should it be deleted? Is the backlog supposed to be just the user stories that have a chance of getting worked on or should they be all user stories that are related to a product even if it is just some idea we got while brainstorming. What if the idea came from in as a customer request but it isn't a high priority item from the product owner's point of view?

Answer 1

I don't remove such stories. The backlog nature is such that it contains everything, no matter how meaningless or for that sake important it is. Towards the end of each sprint there might be a chance to work on such stories if you include them as stretch goals as we do. Especially if they are relatively small. The beauty of stretch tasks is that they don't have to be done. They are just candies. So that's why I always keep them.

Answer 2

The answer -- as I prove I'm a consultant at heart -- is "it depends."

If you think the story will be implemented someday, or the user who asked for the story is obnoxious, or you want to keep the story around because it represents "nice to have" functionality that might get re-prioritized up in the future, then keep it.

If you're sure, absolutely sure, that deleting it won't turn around to bite you on the ass, delete it.

Answer 3

If I am grooming the backlog and I see a user story that is completely valid but is ultra low priority should it be deleted?

Certainly not! While you are grooming your user stories, you also need to groom your release structure or plan. You need to compartmentalize your user stories into Releases. I would also create a release named Recycle Bin to put all the things which you are not sure if you need or not. What would be helpful would be reading "Agile Estimating and Planning" by Mike Cohn

Answer 4

The product owner owns product backlog and she should be the only person who can modify backlog's content. Once a user story is added to backlog it describes some feature and it has some priority. Low priority user stories should not be deleted because priorities can change over time or next relese can be planned later on and these captured features can be included an reprioritized.

There is nothing wrong when project ends and there is still a lot of low priority user stories in the backlog. It only means that budget / resurces were to low to complete them all or that it wasn't possible to deliver all of them in planned schedule. (It also shows opportunity for next version or release.) The rason for prioritization is to deliver user stories with biggest business value.

Edit:

I can imagine that User story can be deleted if somebody finds that it can't be implemented (never). For example due to company policy or legal reasons. But in such case I would still want to use only "soft" delete with added reason for delete.

Answer 5

If I am grooming the backlog and I see a user story that is completely valid but is ultra low priority should it be deleted?

As a product owner its your wish to keep/remove stories from the backlog. However, if its a valid story why delete it? I have seen ultra low priority suddenly moving up suddenly at times. It might also be that in the future this story provides a nice add-on bonus to provide clients if you need to some small stories to put into your sprint but no other higher priority stories will fit. That said, I would probably prefer putting in sometime to do more automated tests and refactoring if there is spare time. (If you ever have spare time that is :) )