Using AI tools for backlog prioritization offers a dynamic way to reshuffle the deck based on a different set of assumptions.
In a previous post, I described how a lightweight Weighted Shortest Job First methodology can use Size and Impact ratings to provide a quantitative ranking of backlog items. The key is that Impact is based on a particular set of assumptions: organizational strategy, current pain points, product lifecycle, etc.
An example backlog for a growing ecommerce site could look like:
| Work Item # | Type | Summary | Detailed Description | Story Points | Impact | WSJF Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC-002 | Bug | Fix product image loading failures | Critical bug where product images fail to load intermittently on product detail pages, showing broken image placeholders instead. This occurs approximately 15% of the time and significantly impacts conversion rates. Root cause appears to be CDN timeout issues and missing error handling for failed image requests. | 3 | 8 | 2.67 |
| EC-001 | Story | Implement one-click checkout | As a returning customer, I need a one-click checkout option so I can complete purchases quickly without re-entering payment information. Currently customers must manually enter all payment and shipping details on every purchase, leading to cart abandonment. This feature would store encrypted payment methods and default shipping addresses for authenticated users. | 5 | 8 | 1.60 |
| EC-003 | Story | Add guest checkout capability | As a first-time visitor, I need the ability to checkout without creating an account so I can make a purchase quickly without friction. Currently all users must register before purchasing, creating unnecessary barriers. This would allow anonymous checkout while still capturing essential order information. | 8 | 8 | 1.00 |
| EC-005 | Bug | Fix mobile responsive layout issues | Multiple layout bugs on mobile devices including overlapping elements, unclickable buttons, and text overflow. Affects approximately 60% of traffic. Issues are most severe on iOS Safari and Android Chrome browsers. Requires comprehensive CSS fixes and mobile-first redesign of key pages. | 8 | 8 | 1.00 |
| EC-009 | Story | Add wishlist/favorites functionality | As a registered user, I need to save products to a wishlist so I can easily find and purchase items I’m interested in later. This helps with customer retention and provides insight into product demand. Should be accessible from product pages and user account dashboard. | 8 | 8 | 1.00 |
| EC-012 | Technical Debt | Optimize database queries for product listing | Performance issue where category pages load slowly due to inefficient database queries. Page load times average 8-12 seconds for categories with more than 100 products. Requires query optimization, proper indexing, and potentially implementing caching layer for frequently accessed product data. | 8 | 8 | 1.00 |
| EC-006 | Story | Add abandoned cart recovery emails | As a site owner, I need automated email campaigns for abandoned carts so I can recover lost sales and improve conversion rates. Currently no follow-up occurs when customers add items to cart but don’t complete purchase. Should include sequence of 3 emails over 7 days with discount incentives. | 13 | 8 | 0.62 |
| EC-008 | Story | Implement customer reviews and ratings | As a potential buyer, I need to see reviews and ratings from other customers so I can make informed purchasing decisions. Currently no social proof exists on product pages, which reduces trust and conversion rates. Should include star ratings, written reviews, and helpful/unhelpful voting. | 13 | 8 | 0.62 |
| EC-011 | Story | Add international shipping calculator | As an international customer, I need to see accurate shipping costs to my country so I can make informed purchase decisions. Currently shipping costs are only shown for domestic orders, causing checkout abandonment for international customers. Requires integration with shipping carrier APIs. | 13 | 8 | 0.62 |
| EC-004 | Story | Implement product search functionality | As a shopper, I need to search for products by name, category, or attributes so I can quickly find what I’m looking for. The current site only supports browsing by category, making product discovery difficult for customers who know what they want. Should include autocomplete, filters, and sorting options. | 13 | 5 | 0.38 |
| EC-013 | Story | Implement inventory management system | As a store administrator, I need real-time inventory tracking so I can prevent overselling and manage stock levels effectively. Currently inventory is managed manually in spreadsheets, leading to overselling incidents and poor customer experience. Needs automated stock updates and low-stock alerts. | 21 | 8 | 0.38 |
| EC-015 | Story | Implement regional tax calculation | As a customer in different jurisdictions, I need accurate tax calculations so I understand my total purchase cost. Currently applies flat tax rate regardless of location, which is incorrect for many regions and could create legal compliance issues. Requires integration with tax calculation services and regional tax rule configuration. | 21 | 8 | 0.38 |
| EC-007 | Technical Debt | Refactor legacy payment processing code | Technical debt item: Current payment processing uses deprecated APIs and hardcoded configurations making it difficult to add new payment methods or maintain PCI compliance. Code is tightly coupled and lacks proper error handling. Needs complete architectural refactor to modern payment gateway integration patterns. | 21 | 5 | 0.24 |
| EC-010 | Story | Implement multi-currency support | As an international customer, I need to view prices and pay in my local currency so I can understand costs and avoid currency conversion confusion. Currently only supports USD pricing which creates barriers for international sales. Requires integration with currency conversion APIs and payment processing updates. | 21 | 5 | 0.24 |
| EC-014 | Story | Add localized content management | As an international visitor, I need content in my local language so I can understand product descriptions and site navigation. Currently only available in English, limiting international market penetration. Requires content management system with translation workflows and regional content customization. | 34 | 5 | 0.15 |
This backlog was prioritized assuming the business would stay on the trajectory of maturing its current offering and gradually add features. What if those assumptions change? Fast-changing business conditions may require quickly shifting focus and priorities.
AI can help with quickly pivoting. Consider the following prompt:
You are the product owner for a growing ecommerce site. The prioritized product backlog is in the attached spreadsheet. Please note that higher WSJF Ratings represent higher priorities. Senior management has just decided that international expansion is key to the survival of the business. While the business needs to address critical bugs, other user irritants will have to wait so that the developers can focus on features to enable the international expansion. Please re-order the backlog accordingly.
The result might look something like:
| Work Item # | Type | Summary | Detailed Description | Story Points | Impact | WSJF Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC-002 | Bug | Fix product image loading failures | Critical bug where product images fail to load intermittently on product detail pages, showing broken image placeholders instead. This occurs approximately 15% of the time and significantly impacts conversion rates. Root cause appears to be CDN timeout issues and missing error handling for failed image requests. | 3 | 8 | 2.67 |
| EC-005 | Bug | Fix mobile responsive layout issues | Multiple layout bugs on mobile devices including overlapping elements, unclickable buttons, and text overflow. Affects approximately 60% of traffic. Issues are most severe on iOS Safari and Android Chrome browsers. Requires comprehensive CSS fixes and mobile-first redesign of key pages. | 8 | 8 | 1.00 |
| EC-010 | Story | Implement multi-currency support | As an international customer, I need to view prices and pay in my local currency so I can understand costs and avoid currency conversion confusion. Currently only supports USD pricing which creates barriers for international sales. Requires integration with currency conversion APIs and payment processing updates. | 21 | 5 | 0.24 |
| EC-011 | Story | Add international shipping calculator | As an international customer, I need to see accurate shipping costs to my country so I can make informed purchase decisions. Currently shipping costs are only shown for domestic orders, causing checkout abandonment for international customers. Requires integration with shipping carrier APIs. | 13 | 8 | 0.62 |
| EC-014 | Story | Add localized content management | As an international visitor, I need content in my local language so I can understand product descriptions and site navigation. Currently only available in English, limiting international market penetration. Requires content management system with translation workflows and regional content customization. | 34 | 5 | 0.15 |
| EC-015 | Story | Implement regional tax calculation | As a customer in different jurisdictions, I need accurate tax calculations so I understand my total purchase cost. Currently applies flat tax rate regardless of location, which is incorrect for many regions and could create legal compliance issues. Requires integration with tax calculation services and regional tax rule configuration. | 21 | 8 | 0.38 |
| EC-007 | Technical Debt | Refactor legacy payment processing code | Technical debt item: Current payment processing uses deprecated APIs and hardcoded configurations making it difficult to add new payment methods or maintain PCI compliance. Code is tightly coupled and lacks proper error handling. Needs complete architectural refactor to modern payment gateway integration patterns. | 21 | 5 | 0.24 |
| EC-001 | Story | Implement one-click checkout | As a returning customer, I need a one-click checkout option so I can complete purchases quickly without re-entering payment information. Currently customers must manually enter all payment and shipping details on every purchase, leading to cart abandonment. This feature would store encrypted payment methods and default shipping addresses for authenticated users. | 5 | 8 | 1.60 |
| EC-003 | Story | Add guest checkout capability | As a first-time visitor, I need the ability to checkout without creating an account so I can make a purchase quickly without friction. Currently all users must register before purchasing, creating unnecessary barriers. This would allow anonymous checkout while still capturing essential order information. | 8 | 8 | 1.00 |
| EC-004 | Story | Implement product search functionality | As a shopper, I need to search for products by name, category, or attributes so I can quickly find what I’m looking for. The current site only supports browsing by category, making product discovery difficult for customers who know what they want. Should include autocomplete, filters, and sorting options. | 13 | 5 | 0.38 |
| EC-006 | Story | Add abandoned cart recovery emails | As a site owner, I need automated email campaigns for abandoned carts so I can recover lost sales and improve conversion rates. Currently no follow-up occurs when customers add items to cart but don’t complete purchase. Should include sequence of 3 emails over 7 days with discount incentives. | 13 | 8 | 0.62 |
| EC-008 | Story | Implement customer reviews and ratings | As a potential buyer, I need to see reviews and ratings from other customers so I can make informed purchasing decisions. Currently no social proof exists on product pages, which reduces trust and conversion rates. Should include star ratings, written reviews, and helpful/unhelpful voting. | 13 | 8 | 0.62 |
| EC-009 | Story | Add wishlist/favorites functionality | As a registered user, I need to save products to a wishlist so I can easily find and purchase items I’m interested in later. This helps with customer retention and provides insight into product demand. Should be accessible from product pages and user account dashboard. | 8 | 8 | 1.00 |
| EC-012 | Technical Debt | Optimize database queries for product listing | Performance issue where category pages load slowly due to inefficient database queries. Page load times average 8-12 seconds for categories with more than 100 products. Requires query optimization, proper indexing, and potentially implementing caching layer for frequently accessed product data. | 8 | 8 | 1.00 |
| EC-013 | Story | Implement inventory management system | As a store administrator, I need real-time inventory tracking so I can prevent overselling and manage stock levels effectively. Currently inventory is managed manually in spreadsheets, leading to overselling incidents and poor customer experience. Needs automated stock updates and low-stock alerts. | 21 | 8 | 0.38 |
As you can see, the backlog items relating to international shoppers are prioritized after the critical bugs.
While this is a simple example, this could be a powerful shortcut to viewing the backlog differently. Consider this following prompt:
If the development team’s velocity is 18 story points for a 2-week sprint, how long before they could delivery international shopping capabilities?
You can see where this going. The what-ifs that are part of the decision-making process can quickly be answered.
And there’s the usual caveat: make sure you’re using the right AI model for this, and always perform a sanity check on the output!
Agile Reflections 