Achieve Agile project
management, together

Backlog and Cacoo can each support Agile software development processes in unique ways.

Backlog was designed to accommodate Agile Project Management from the ground up. With Backlog, project managers can:

• Create unique project workflows with custom issue statuses and types
• Track and manage team workloads with subtasking, Burndown, and Gantt charts
• Streamline task creation with issue templates and automated issue creation
• Quickly share information with the whole team through file uploads, comments, and automatic notifications

And Backlog enables project teams to:

• Collaborate on tasks with subtasking, issue comments, file sharing and more
• Seamlessly manage the code review process through on-platform Git and SVN
• Manage their tasks how they prefer with Kanban boards and Gantt charts

Cacoo integrates seamlessly with Backlog to enhance any Agile workflow further. It’s intuitive drag-and-drop design interface allows teams to:

• Map out project workflows using intuitive design templates
• Collaborate in real-time with multi-user editing, comments, chat and video conferencing
• Build complex wireframes to guide the software development process
• Instantly share diagrams, flow charts, and other design assets to Backlog tasks for easy reference

Backlog and Cacoo are flexible enough to accommodate whichever project management style your team prefers, although Backlog’s default setup aligns particularly well with Kanban, an Agile framework.

While each Agile framework is unique, they share several common factors:

• An iterative approach, enabling teams to deliver value early and often rather than all at once at the end of the project lifecycle
• Flexibility and adaptability to accommodate shifting project requirements, priorities, and scope
• They give teams and independent contributors the autonomy to manage their internal workflows, create and manage tasks, and hold themselves accountable
• Prioritization of functional software over in-depth documentation

By contrast, traditional project management:

• Is non-iterative, delivering the entire project at the end of the timeline
• Uses a predictive approach and a more rigid project scope and schedule
• Prioritizes comprehensive documentation

You can easily execute the model you choose using Backlog and Cacoo.

For example, Cacoo’s in-depth library of templates can help traditional project teams create accessible documentation and share it directly with the relevant project in the Backlog.

Similarly, in Backlog, project managers can create custom workflows—traditional or Agile—to analyze project timelines and progress and communicate with the project team.

Cacoo can help Agile teams plan and visualize every stage of their projects with:

• Intuitive flow charts to lay out project plans and workflows so that everyone on the team understands what to do
• Collaborative mind maps to gather ideas and input from the whole project team
• In-depth wireframing to lay out user interfaces, back-end functionality, and use cases so that developers better understand the goal of the project
• Chat, commenting, multi-user editing and video conferencing to discuss contributions, troubleshoot, and improve any asset
• Easy sharing within Cacoo or Backlog or downloading and embedding externally so that the whole team has access to every resource

Backlog’s features can streamline the Agile development process from several angles.

First, with custom workflows, project teams can create a development process that suits their unique project and modify it to accommodate unexpected challenges.

Second, with file uploads, detailed issue tracking, and user commenting, the team can ask questions, share updates and information, and quickly review background information.

Third, Git and SVN integrations allow software developers to conduct code reviews, manage their code base, and identify and fix bugs without leaving the platform.

Finally, by creating issues by email, teams can automate the process of addressing user-reported bugs, feature requests, and customer education issues.

Backlog can support any Agile Project Management methodology, but here are three ideal examples.

Every Backlog project automatically includes a Kanban board and issue statuses to align with the Kanban framework, making this approach ideal out of the box. Users can even create custom issue statuses to better reflect their project stages.

Users may also enable Gantt charts if they prefer a timeline-focused approach, which allows them to easily manage dependencies, allocate resources, and update project schedules.

Finally, Backlog’s custom versions and milestones make following a Scrum framework seamless. This, combined with custom task types and statuses, enables teams to plan, conduct, and manage sprints more efficiently.

As an intuitive design platform, Cacoo streamlines communication among project teams, making it easier to share complex data, project plans, wireframes, and more in a way that the whole team can understand.

This ease of communication helps project teams uphold each principle in the Agile Manifesto. For example:

• Wireframes, diagrams, and flowcharts help teams understand shifting requirements and changing processes while also reducing the amount of time required for each iteration
• Visual communication makes it easier for project team members to communicate across disciplines–e.g., developers, marketers, and other business professionals–without misunderstanding
• Detailed wireframes enable developers to create functional software more quickly and easily and enhance the team’s attention to detail
• Mind maps, multi-user editing, commenting, and video conferencing allow the team to gather and reflect on their processes to continue improving

Backlog includes a Kanban board in every project. This visual system enables project teams to manage the flow of tasks from conception to completion.

Additionally, teams can easily collect and share feedback through task comments, version control, and code reviews, all from within Backlog.

Although working software is prioritized over documentation, teams can easily collaborate on documentation by incrementally updating the Project Wiki with each completed feature. This helps the team stay in communication and makes handing off tasks between team members easier.

You can easily incorporate any Agile focus into your project management workflow.

For example, if you wished to focus more on collaborating with customers who have purchased your software, you could enable the Add issues via email feature.

With this, you can automate task creation every time a customer creates a support ticket for your team to process it more easily. Use this to collect bug reports, feature requests, and other customer suggestions for your development team.

To enhance this process, create custom issue types to highlight which tasks directly relate to customer feedback.

Cacoo and Backlog can also improve your change management process, making your project team more adaptable.

Let’s say you need to update your task flow to add additional stages for review and testing. First, create and arrange custom issue statuses to reflect the new workflow. Next, communicate your updated flow using a flow chart template on Cacoo so that the new process is easy to understand and implement.

Backlog and Cacoo also allow you to collaborate with clients by granting them access to projects via Guest user roles. This allows your client to track task statuses, ask questions, review assets, and contribute ideas seamlessly.

Cacoo’s easy-to-understand diagrams enhance any project management workflow. For example:

• Illustrative flow charts streamline project planning so teams can work independently with ease
• Mind maps enhance collaboration by consolidating ideas and feedback from the entire project team
• Diagrams make complex data easier to parse so that team members can collaborate across disciplines
• Detailed wireframes help developers better understand their tasks, reducing the amount of time they need to spend on each interaction

Backlog’s in-depth customization enables project teams to improve their workflows at any point in the process.

For example, if the team needs to add additional task stages for internal review and public beta tests, the project manager (or anyone with Project Administrator access) can easily add these steps.

Project managers could also manage retrospectives by creating tasks. Then, each team member may contribute ideas and feedback throughout the iteration, to be discussed during the retrospective meeting. Teams can implement new ideas or fixes by updating their custom workflow.

Cacoo can make these iterative improvements even easier. For example, if you prefer a more visual way of collecting the team’s input, you can use a retrospective template to gather all input into one place. Then, using the platform’s video conferencing feature, the team may discuss their ideas in real time for potential implementation.

Once you’ve made changes to the workflow, use Cacoo to update your project flow and share the document with your whole team for reference.