Artifacts & Commitments

Scrum requires three artifacts. These artifacts represent work or value. They provide transparency and opportunities for inspection and adaptation. The Scrum artifacts are:

• Product Backlog: The ordered list of valuable work the Scrum Team has identified.
• Sprint Backlog: The plan is created anew in each Sprint Planning event.
• Increment: The body of work that has met the Definition of Done for the product.

Each of the artifacts in Scrum contains a commitment to them, which brings transparency and focus:

• The Product Backlog has the Product Goal.
• The Sprint Backlog has the Sprint Goal.
• The Increment has the Definition of Done.

These commitments exist to bring transparency and focus toward the progress of each artifact.

• We can use the Product Goal to ensure the contents of the Product Backlog are aligned and help us work towards fulfilling a clear long-term objective. It can help us maintain focus over many Sprints.
• We can use the Sprint Goal to ensure the contents of the Sprint Backlog are aligned and help us work towards fulfilling a clear short-term objective. It can help us maintain focus during the Sprint.
• We can use the Definition of Done to ensure transparency around the Increment reaching the required level of quality. It can help us maintain focus on getting work into a Done state during the Sprint.