Backlog Refinement Technique: Slicing Tickets Like a Pro

This article is part of the Developer Survival Kit.

Practical solutions to win back your focus time and deliver real results instead of just playing along in the "Agile Theater."

Does this sound familiar? Sprint Planning starts, the Product Owner (PO) pulls the first ticket, and the next 60 minutes are spent discussing what "optimize user profile" actually means. In the end, you head into the sprint frustrated, without the slightest clue how to build the architecture for it.

This is the result of missing or poor Backlog Refinement.

Many teams view refinement as an optional "talk-fest." However, for the pragmatic developer, it is the most important event in the entire process. Why? Because this is where it's decided whether you can code in flow during the sprint or whether you have to close your IDE every two hours to clarify ambiguities.

Here is my guide on how to prepare your tickets so that planning becomes a mere formality.

Why Refinement is more important than Planning

In a perfectly running team, Sprint Planning is over in 30 minutes. Why? Because the hard work was already done during refinement. Planning is the moment we commit. Refinement is the process that makes us ready. If you only start understanding what needs to be built during planning, it's too late.

Refinement is less of a meeting and more of an activity. It's about preventing "Shit In, Shit Out." A ticket that isn't "Ready" must not enter the sprint. Period.

INVEST Criteria from a technical perspective

You’ve probably heard of INVEST. But let's forget the theory for a moment and look at what it means for your code:

• Independent: Can you work on the ticket without waiting for another team? If no, slice it so you can work with mocks or interfaces.
• Negotiable: A ticket is not a fixed specification. If the requirement is technically absurd, negotiate the solution. You are the expert for implementation; the PO is the expert for value.
• Valuable: If you can't explain why a user needs this ticket, it might just be gold-plating or a technical end in itself.
• Estimable: If you say "I can't estimate this," it usually means: "I haven't understood the problem yet." That's a sign for a Spike (see below).
• Small: A ticket should be small enough to go through the pipeline in 2–3 days. Large tickets are hiding places for bugs and ambiguities.
• Testable: If you don't know how to prove it works, the ticket isn't well-defined.

Vertical Slicing: The SPIDR Method

One of the biggest pain points for developers is "horizontal slicing." Teams often fall into creating one ticket for the DB, one for the API, and one for the UI. The result: at the end of the sprint, you have a lot of code but nothing that actually works.

We want vertical slicing. A thin cut through all layers. Mike Cohn developed the SPIDR framework for this, allowing you to break any user story into manageable pieces:

S – Spikes (Research)

If the story is too complex, pull out a Spike. Research the library or build a prototype. Only after that is the actual story estimated.

P – Paths

Slice by the "Happy Path" and the alternatives.

• Story 1: User can log in with email (Happy Path).
• Story 2: Forgot password function.
• Story 3: OAuth integration.

I – Interfaces

Slice by devices or UI complexity.

• Story 1: The API interface is ready (usable by other teams).
• Story 2: The CLI tool works.
• Story 3: The fancy web interface (comes later).

D – Data

Slice by data types or complexity of the data.

• Story 1: We only support MP4 uploads (YouTube example).
• Story 2: We add support for .mov and .webm.

R – Rules

Slice by business logic.

• Story 1: User can post a comment.
• Story 2: We add validation against SQL injection and profanity.

The advantage: you deliver something "alive" after every ticket, instead of standing in front of a pile of non-integrated layers at the end of the sprint.

Spikes: When we need to research before we estimate

I'm sure you hate having to guess. When the PO asks, "How long will the migration to the new GraphQL API take?", the most honest answer is often: "No idea, I've never done that before."

It may be that you (and your team members) are forced to give a Story Point number anyway. However, it's more successful for everyone to use a Spike.

A Spike is a time-boxed ticket (e.g., 4–8 hours) whose goal is not production code, but knowledge.

• What have we learned?
• What are the technical risks?
• How can we reasonably slice the actual story now?

After the Spike, the uncertainty is gone, and planning becomes a breeze again.

Handling unclear requirements from the PO

Sometimes POs come with user stories that sound more like epic poems or (worse) a single cryptic sentence. Your job in refinement is to be the "gatekeeper" for your team.

Use a Definition of Ready (DoR). It is the counterpart to the Definition of Done. It's your quality standard for incoming work. A ticket is only "Ready" when:

• The business context is clear.
• The acceptance criteria are unambiguous.
• Technical dependencies are clarified.
• The ticket is small enough (slicing has occurred).

If a PO tries to push an unclear ticket into the sprint, your answer is:

"We’d love to help, but without clarity, we’re just producing waste. Let’s invest 10 minutes now to slice it according to SPIDR instead of running in the wrong direction for three days next week."

DoR Checklist

With the Definition of Ready, you have a checklist at hand to check whether a story is truly clarified enough for you to start.

Use this list as a guide in refinement. If a ticket gets a "No" or "Maybe" on more than two points, it’s not ready for the sprint. Send it back to the Product Owner's workshop.

1. Business Context ("The Why")

• Value clear: We know who the target audience is and what real problem this ticket solves. (No "Because the boss wants it").
• Success measurable: It’s clear how we will notice after the release that the feature works (e.g., tracking event, metric).

2. Functional Clarity ("The What")

• Acceptance criteria present: There is a list of conditions that must be met for the PO to accept the ticket.
• Edge cases considered: What happens in case of errors, empty states, or timeouts? (Rough clarification is enough).
• UI/UX Ready: If the ticket affects the frontend: The designs/wireframes are final and accessible to the devs.

3. Technical Feasibility ("The How")

• Dependencies clarified: We don't have to wait for Team X or API Y to start.
• Architecture Fit: We roughly know which components the code will flow into. There are no "magical" unknowns.
• Spike-Check: If we have no idea how to implement it, a research ticket (Spike) was completed first.

4. Logistics ("The Format")

• Vertical Slicing: The ticket is sliced so that it goes through all layers (no pure "DB ticket").
• Small enough: The team is confident that the ticket can pass through the pipeline within 2–3 days.
• Estimation completed: The team has estimated the ticket together (or deliberately refrained because it is small enough).

Warning: No bureaucracy trap! The DoR is not a legal document to harass the PO. It is a communication tool. If a ticket is almost ready and you can clarify the remaining 5% during the sprint: Go for it. But if the ticket is a black hole of ambiguity: Hands off.

Conclusion: Refinement is Engineering

Stop seeing refinement as "meeting overhead." It is the moment you design the architecture of your sprint. Good slicing requires deep technical understanding – it is real engineering.

Those who masterfully slice their tickets reduce friction, eliminate overtime at the end of the sprint, and ensure that the team can concentrate on what it does best: building excellent software.

What's Next?
Good refinement prevents surprises. But what about the code that already "stinks"? If legacy debt is slowing you down, you must learn to sell its removal economically.

🏗️ Next Step: Reducing Technical Debt in the Agile Process
🏠 Back to Overview: The Agile Survival Kit for Developers

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