The 2020 Scrum Guide introduced the product goal. It is one of three commitments associated with scrum artifacts and is the commitment for the Product Backlog artifact.
“A product is the vehicle to deliver value. It has a clear boundary, known stakeholders, well-defined users, or customers. A product could be a service, a physical product, or something more abstract.
Essential aspects of products goals
- They must be a distinct end product and written down
- They reflect market demand and are not driven by what is in the backlog
- The team works on one product goal at a time.
- The goal is the end result and not a design document.
- One can lead to another but they are written in a way that the team can achieve one goal at a time.
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The team decides how to achieve the goal.
Background Of The Term
Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland introduced the product goal to add commitments for each of the three scrum artifacts: product backlog, sprint backlog, and increment.
Further Learning
InFoQ article – Changes in the 2020 Scrum Guide: Q&A with Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland
Scrum Alliance Blog – Product Goal
