Product
A backlog is not a to-do list
December 2, 2025 · 3 min read · Nitesh Khanal
A to-do list tells you what's next. A backlog should tell you why — what problem each item solves, for whom, and how you'll know it worked.
On every product I've managed, the backlogs that stayed useful were the ones I kept ruthlessly groomed: stale items removed, priorities revisited, and every ticket tied back to an actual user or business outcome.
If your team can't explain why something is above something else in the backlog, it's not prioritized — it's just ordered.