Work Items — In Practice

Work Items resolve Issues. The guide covers what each Work Item is. This page covers how to choose.

Relationship Map

Work Items form a hierarchy. Each level adds specificity:

Issue
  ├── Resolved directly (question answered, config fixed, incident handled)
  │
  └── Feature (needs investment, multiple cycles)
        │
        └── Roadmap (Now / Next)
              │
              ├── Study (unknowns → ADR / prototype / kill)
              │
              └── Stories (independent value units)
                    │
                    ├── Trivial → Tasks directly
                    ├── Partial → criteria + Tasks + Tests
                    └── Complex → Use Case → Tasks + Tests

Fidelity is a choice, not a gate. The team decides how much structure each Story needs.

Default Path + Branching

Default:

Issue → Feature (roadmap) → Stories →
  ├── Partial: criteria + Tasks + Tests
  └── Full: Use Case → Tasks → Tests

Unknowns block delivery:

Issue → Feature → Stories → Study → ADR / prototype / kill →
  ├── Study confirms → proceed
  └── Study kills → kill Feature, close Issue

Trivial work (typo, 1-line config):

Issue → Record minimal Story → Tasks → Build directly

No Feature, no roadmap, no Use Case.

Pre-PMF (startup):

Issue → Feature (paper prototype) → Direct conversation → Build

Drop formality. Retroactively document if the Feature survives.

Prioritisation Methods

Not recommended: Numeric scores (RICE, ICE), MoSCoW, Kano model.

Story-to-Use-Case Fidelity

Is the work trivial (typo, 1-line config)?
  Yes → Tasks directly. No Use Case.
  No →
    Early stage (pre-PMF)?
      Yes → Paper prototype + conversation. Write Use Case only if structure is unclear.
      No →
        Crosses aggregate boundaries?
          Yes → Split the Story. One Story, one Use Case maximum.
          No →
            Needs full structured spec?
              Yes → Full Use Case (Cockburn/Jacobson per Appendix C)
              No → Partial: criteria + Tasks + Tests (most cases)

Role Map

Technique Table

Procedure Table

Artifact Table

Skip Conditions

The team decides how much fidelity is needed. Default to minimal. Add structure only when a specific gap shows it is needed.