[bonecrusher2102]

I appreciate the sentiment here, but this is not my experience. I talk to our customers almost every day, and for this reason, we have all kinds of well-vetted features and improvements in our backlog. There's always more to do than you have time for; the difference is whether or not your backlog is directly informed and refined by customer feedback.

[recroad]

Author here. Appreciate your perspective. I find large backlogs get stale quickly, and what was important three months ago is often not the case as context has changed. If I have a good ear to the ground I've discovered that there's usually something more valuable that can be delivered, and the way I've discovered is through talking to people.

Your point about "directly informed and refined by customer feedback" is well-taken, but in my experience a large backlog is rarely that, but more a dumping ground that seems daunting. Of course it depends on who is managing it and how, but more often than not I've seen PMs succumb to big backlogs rather than make it a well-vetted list maintained proactively like you have stated.

[bonecrusher2102]

That's fair enough I think! I totally agree that larger backlogs tend toward staleness. Just like a good shrub, they need care, feeding, and trimming :)

By the way, I enjoyed the article! It's a good share, and appreciate the perspective.

[nerdponx]

Yeah I'm not sure I follow the logic here. The only reason I have anything to work on at all is because we've talked to customers.

I think maybe the implication is that if your backlog is big, it's a "smell" that you're over-planning. I don't think that's true, but I guess the sentiment is good.