I'm thinking about backlog refinement today. First, what does "refinement" mean? IMO, "refinement" is the process of adding stories, removing stories, changing priority, etc. It is NOT adding details to stories. That's just premature up-front design. 1/4
Some PO sitting in front of Jira adding details to stories is NOT refining the backlog, they're designing the implementation. Backlog refinement is an ongoing process because you're constantly learning new things about the connections between stories (and their value). 2/4b
That is, given that you're always discovering new stories and learning new things about existing ones that impact their value, modify the backlog by adding/removing/moving stories as soon as you learn so that you don't forget. Refinement is a process, not a meeting. 3/4
Finally, you don't want the backlog to become a slush pile for lame ideas, so for continuous refinement to work well, the backlog has to be limited in size. (A month's work for the combined teams is a good compromise.) Nothing goes in unless something comes out. 4/4
