From Idea to Product Backlog

24 April 2014

Mechanisms of turning an idea into a product backlog were addressed during a FREE training for university teachers which was held at the India-Belarus Digital Learning Center in ICT on April 22. The training was conducted with the support of the HTP resident-company Brimit.

Just an idea of a product is not enough for a development team to begin its realization; sometimes it is not enough even to give a rough estimate. Specified and prioritized requirements are a key point of the success in development. The training was, therefore, focused on practical methods and instruments to establish project development requirements.

During the training, the project manager Vladimir Dobrov shared his experience and knowledge on how to divide an idea into tasks quickly and efficiently: "When developing a new product, people often do not know what to start with. Here we are studying a set of practices and instruments allowing to move to a working version of the product backlog most efficiently and at a minimum cost. The peculiarity of this workshop is that it is as practical as possible. Coming out of the classroom, one can immediately start to use the skills obtained."

Dmitry Shastiko, Department of Mathematical Methods in Management and Economics at the Academy of Public Administration under the aegis of the President of the Republic of Belarus: "During the educational process we introduce students to the methodology of organizing the process of project development. Here I have met people who have practical experience of development. Of course, the information obtained during the training can be applied to teaching students to focus on some practical aspects."

The workshop was attended not only by teachers but also by representatives of IT startups. It was of special value to future product owners – those who would like to start up a company, who work (or would like to work) in a product company.

It is the fifth workshop for university teachers at the India-Belarus Digital Learning Center in ICT this year, with over 40 teachers of technical departments of Belarusian universities participating.