One of the typical mistakes of Product Owners is, that they still live in the world of requirements. They still believe, they know what needs to be done. Or at least, that their customers know what needs to be done. So, they spend all the effort on gathering requirements, asking “what do you want us to deliver?” and through that they end up with this crappy Backlog, that grows to unlimited sizes. But none of that is true. The world had changed. It’s more unpredictable, is unstable, and complex by nature. I believe it’s a time to be honest and admit that we don’t know what needs to be done. All we know, is what do we want to achieve. But we don’t know how. And that’s a problem in traditional world. Because how can we plan what to do if we don’t know that. So that whole shift brought a lot of frustration to the industry past decade. And organizations were approaching it in the wrong way. They try to estimate better. They try to detail requirements. None of that worked.
So, what’s the solution to this problem? I think the solution is surprisingly simple, but we need to fundamentally change how we organize our business and how we prioritize. We need to look at things in more strategic way. We need to embrace the business agility and start welcoming changes already at the very beginning. The backlog was never meant to be fixed to-do list. Quite the opposite. It was meant to be dynamic and changeable. It was not meant to be full of requirements describing all the possibility details which must be delivered. Instead, the backlog supposed to be a collection of business cases, of small little hypothesis we phrased together to describe the needs of our customers, the pains of the business. And that’s very different from what you usually see in organizations.
So how can a backlog item look like?
Requirement
A detailed description of a functionality to be delivered. Very traditional, works for stable, known environments with no surprises. Usually large but can be split into smaller pieces.
The system shall provide users with an AI-based assistant that analyzes their transaction history and generates personalized financial tips. The assistant must support natural language queries and return responses in under 2 seconds.
The system shall allow users to set monthly spending limits for expense categories (e.g., dining, groceries, entertainment) and shall notify users via in-app alert when 80% of the limit is reached.
User story
If written correctly, it’s a frame for conversation with our users to describe a business case. It’s customer centric, value driven. It’s a good start to address customer’s needs. As a [persona] I want [what] So that [need].
As a Jenny (single mother, budget-conscious),
I want to have control over my monthly spending
so that I can keep my finances safe.
Story map
Like user story, but covering larger functionality, bringing the whole context of the user’s need. Is more consistent and coherent, balancing the customer perspective and the value.
Story: Jenny needs to Improve financial health
Map: Steps/Options/Journey:
| Connect Accounts | Visualize Expenses | Recommend | Track Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank API | Automatic Categories | Tailored Tips | Progress Bar |
| CSV | Charts | Rules-based Suggestions | Gamification |
| QR Code | Manual Tags | Benchmark Suggestion | Predictive Trends |
| Compare History | Savings Plans | Email Reports | |
| Weekly Trends |
Impact map
A mind map describing hypothesis in visual form. It’s created around well-defined business product goals to maximize the value towards the goal. It helps you to be very strategic. Business Goal (SMART) → Actor (Who can influence the outcome?) → Impact (How shall the actors behavior change?) → Scope (What can we do to support that change?).
Goal: Help people make better financial decisions: (15% increase in savings or a 20% reduction in non-essential spending)
Actor: Young professionals
Impact: Limit ad-hoc spending
Scope: AI assistant that offers spending alerts and budget tips
Hypothesis
Optimizes for testing assumptions and learning from them. It’s highly adaptive, emphasizing adaptability, and regular feedback. We believe [Functionality] Will result [Outcome] We will have confidence to proceed [Measures].
We believe that providing users with personalized, AI-driven financial insights based on their real-time spending behavior
Will result in a 15% increase in savings or a 20% reduction in non-essential expenses
We will have confidence to proceed if at least 60% of engaged users show measurable improvement in their financial behavior and report feeling more in control of their finances through in-app surveys or usage metrics.
And there is more. However, the more venerable, unpredictable, complex and ambiguous your environment is, the more you need to leverage the flexible and business-oriented techniques further down on my list. Requirements are not successful in unpredictable world. Organizations need more business agility, so forget requirements and try some story mapping, impact mapping, or hypothesis. Business agility is not an option anymore. It’s a necessity.
