Skip to content
MA Marko Apfel
Articles Topics Tags About

Browse by term

Agile

05 Mar 2026 7 min

How to Use Requirement, Feature, PBI, and Task Hierarchies Effectively

How to structure long-running initiatives in Azure DevOps using Requirements, Features, PBIs, and Tasks while keeping themes, deliverable increments, and implementation work clearly separated.

Development
03 Dec 2025 6 min

Using Container Requirements to Organize Requirements in Azure DevOps

How Container Requirements can provide a virtual hierarchy for organizing related requirements in Azure DevOps when suitable portfolio-level work item types are unavailable.

Development
20 Nov 2025 8 min

Where Does the MVP Belong in an Azure DevOps Backlog Hierarchy?

How to organize MVPs and subsequent product increments in an Azure DevOps hierarchy using Requirements, Features, PBIs, and Tasks.

Development
05 Nov 2025 7 min

Frequently Asked Questions About Given-When-Then

A practical introduction to the Given-When-Then format, its role in acceptance criteria, and how it complements user story descriptions.

Development
25 Sep 2025 5 min

Slicing CRUD-Related Activities into Separate Backlog Items

Why CRUD-related functionality such as create, rename, and delete should often be split into separate Product Backlog Items to improve delivery, testing, estimation, and risk management.

Development
03 Jul 2025 7 min

How to Slice a Feature into Product Backlog Items

How to slice a larger software feature into user-facing Product Backlog Items while distinguishing vertical slices from technical implementation tasks.

Development

© 2026 Marko Apfel. Built with Hugo.

RSS