KodeKloud Notes

Leverage Azure Boards within Azure DevOps to plan, track, and manage your project lifecycle using the Basic process template. This streamlined approach uses just three work item types—Epics, Issues, and Tasks—while maintaining clear visibility and control over your work.

Note

The Basic process is ideal for small to medium teams looking for a lightweight planning experience without sacrificing transparency.

Work Item Types and States

Azure DevOps organizes work around discrete items that move through predefined states. In the Basic process, there are three work item types:

Work Item Type	Purpose	States
Epics	Large features or long-term goals spanning releases	To Do → Doing → Done
Issues	User stories, bugs, and feature requests	To Do → Doing → Done
Tasks	Granular steps to complete an Issue	To Do → Doing → Done

The image is a flowchart illustrating the introduction of work items, showing a progression from "Epics" to "Issues" to "Tasks."

Epics

An Epic captures a major feature or strategic initiative, often spanning multiple sprints or releases. Use Epics to group related Issues and maintain a high-level overview of your project goals.

The image illustrates the role of "Epics" in project management, showing a central "Epics" box connected to three "Issue" circles, indicating a hierarchical relationship.

Within an Epic, you can:

Organize multiple Issues (user stories, requirements, or bugs)
Track progress at a strategic level
Align work with business objectives

Issues

Issues are the core planning units in the Basic process. They include:

User Stories – Descriptions of user-facing features and their value.
Bugs – Defects that require triage, prioritization, and resolution.
Feature Requests – Ideas for new functionality or enhancements.

Logging work as Issues creates a predictable backlog, replacing ad hoc methods like email or chat.

The image is an infographic titled "Understanding the Issues," highlighting three steps: tracking user stories, logging bugs and features, and establishing a foundation of planning. Each step is represented by an icon and a number.

Tasks

Break each Issue into Tasks—the actionable items your team executes. Tasks make it easy to assign work, estimate effort, and monitor daily progress.

The image is a flowchart illustrating "Detailed Tracking With Tasks," showing the progression from "Epics" to "Issues" and then to "Simpler Tasks."

Key benefits of using Tasks:

Clear ownership and due dates
Granular tracking of work items
Improved resource allocation

Implementing the Basic Process

Follow these steps to get started:

Create Issues to log user stories, bugs, and features.
Group Issues into Epics for strategic alignment.
Decompose Issues into Tasks to define specific action items.

The image illustrates a flowchart titled "Implementing the Basic Process," showing a hierarchy starting with "Epics" at the top, branching into three categories with icons and documents below each.

Benefits of the Basic Process

Streamlined work item hierarchy
Focused planning with Issues and Epics
Detailed progress monitoring via Tasks

Benefit	Description
Simplified workflow	Only three item types to manage
Enhanced visibility	Clear state transitions for every work item
Predictable delivery	Break down complex work into manageable steps

The image outlines a basic process implementation with three steps: streamlined work items, effective planning, and enhanced tracking, each represented by an icon.

Links and References

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