IPA FE Subject A 2025 Question 13
A question IPA Japan published in 令和７年度 基本情報技術者試験 科目A 公開問題 問13, translated into English. ITPEC is based on the same exams.
In Scrum, which is one of the agile development methods, who has the role of deciding the content and the order of the product backlog items?
Explanation
Product Owner — in Scrum the Product Owner is accountable for the product backlog: what goes into it and in what order.
The Scrum Guide names three accountabilities. The Product Owner maximises the value of the product, creates and clearly communicates product backlog items and orders them. The Developers turn backlog items into a usable increment each sprint and plan the sprint backlog. The Scrum Master establishes Scrum, coaches the team and removes impediments. Others may influence the backlog, but the decisions on its content and order are the Product Owner's.
Answer (d)
Why not others:
- •(a) Developers — they own the sprint backlog and decide how to build the increment; they may help refine items, but do not decide the product backlog's content or order
- •(b) Customer — not a Scrum role; customers and other stakeholders bring their needs to the Product Owner, who decides
- •(c) Scrum Master — coaches the Scrum Team and the organisation in using Scrum and removes impediments; does not manage the backlog's content
Key rule: Product Owner decides what to build and in which order (product backlog); Developers decide how to build it (sprint backlog); the Scrum Master looks after how Scrum is used.
Software Development Management Techniques · AI-written, may contain errors
This question comes from the past questions IPA Japan publishes, translated into English by ITPEC Practice. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with IPA or ITPEC. See the original paper (PDF) or Report an issue.