Azure DevOps Technical Debt Backlog Proposal
Describe debt items with cost, risk and benefit for prioritisation.
The Open buttons send the prompt text as currently shown below to that site only when you click. Fill in the placeholders first.
Write technical debt items for the Azure DevOps backlog. Known problems: [DEBT_LIST]. System context: [CONTEXT]. Delivery pressure: [PRESSURE]. For each item give a title, what is wrong, the effect on delivery and risk in plain words, cost of delay (what gets harder each month we wait), the cost to fix as small, medium or large, the benefit, and when to do it. Score by value over effort, for example value 8 and effort 3 gives 2.7, explain the scoring in two sentences so I can change the weights, and show the table sorted by ratio with a risk adjustment. Flag items that are really features in disguise or should be dropped because the system will be retired. Avoid inflating risk and separate what is known from what is a guess. Explain each item to a non-technical product owner in one sentence, propose a way to reserve 10 to 20 percent of capacity for debt, and write a short pitch for the top three. Ask for missing information if my list is too vague to score.
Fill in before use
Optional: type your details and the prompt above updates. Nothing is saved or sent.
Replace each bracketed placeholder with your own details, then paste into Any AI or another assistant.
See an example result (fictional data)
Invented items. A: replace manual deployment script. Value 8, effort 3, ratio 2.7. B: rename legacy tables. Value 3, effort 5, ratio 0.6. C: add tests to billing module. Value 9, effort 4, ratio 2.25. Order: A, C, B. With 10 percent of 60 sprint points reserved, 6 points per sprint go to debt. Check: 10 percent of 60 points is 6 points per sprint. Item A (3 points) fits in the first sprint, and C (4 points) needs part of the second, so A is done in sprint 1 and C is split into two parts across sprints 2 and 3. Item B is deferred. Pitch line: the deployment script costs about an hour of manual work for every release.
Illustrative only, made-up data. Your results will differ and must be reviewed.