prioritized list

A list or sequence of items to be attended to, arranged in order of their relative importance. The items in the product backlog are a prioritized list. See also product backlog.

Note: In 2011 there was debate as to whether the appropriate term for describing the sequence of items in the product backlog should be prioritized (the original term) or ordered, the term used in “The Scrum Guide” (Schwaber and Sutherland 2011). The argument was that prioritizing is simply one form of ordering (and, according to some, not even the most appropriate form of ordering). The issue of how to best sequence items in the product backlog, however, is influenced by many factors, and a single word may never capture the full breadth and depth of the concept. Although there may be theoretical merit to the ordered-versus prioritized debate, most people use the terms interchangeably when discussing the items in the product backlog.