In
scrum, a burn down chart is used to
provide a graphical representation of the total work remaining, or left to do, versus
time. The pending or outstanding work is generally represented along the vertical
X-axis, while the time is plotted against the horizontal Y-axis. A “burn down”
chart should ideally be understood as a “run down” chart i.e. how much of total
work is still pending and needs to be completed. Even though burn down charts
are synonymous with Agile framework and scrum methodologies, they can also be
used in other non-Agile frameworks. Basically, burn down charts can be used in
any project in which the progress can be measured with respect to time.
Scrum
supports several types of burn down charts, and they can be effectively used to
measure the progress right from the macro level. At the project level, burn
down charts can be effectively used to estimate and depict the progress made. When
the project is segregated into its fundamental components at the product level,
and when small sets of requirements in the form of user stories taken up for
development at the sprint level, the progress can still be measured using burn
down charts – even at the micro level.
Product Burn down Chart
The
product backlog, created by the product owner at the onset of the scrum
project, forms the backbone of all product related requirements in the project.
It is the main list which constitutes the product. As the product items, or the
user stories, are taken up for development during the sprint, certain stories in
the product backlog get marked as “Done” as the sprints keep on progressing. At
the end of each sprint, the items successfully developed by the team are accepted
as complete by the product owner and flagged accordingly in the product
backlog. Therefore, at any given instance of time, the product backlog can
consist of complete or pending items. The chart explaining the pending product
items and those that have been completed over time is known as the product burn down chart.
Sprint Burn down Chart
During
the first half of the sprint planning meeting, the product owner transfers some of the unfinished user stories from the product backlog
into the sprint backlog. The stories contained within the sprint backlog are
taken up for development by the team members during the daily sprint activity.
Each day, as per plan, certain user stories are taken up for development by the
programmers, and efforts are made to complete them by the end of the working
day, or the “sprint” day. As the sprint proceeds each day, certain stories are
completed, while the pending ones start reducing in numbers. The chart, which
represents how many user stories have been completed, and ideally how many
stories should or ought to be finished each day, while the sprint is underway
is known as the sprint burn down chart.Read more on
