A burndown chart shows how much work is left to do. For example, a release burndown will show the amount of story points left on the backlog for a particular release, or a sprint burndown will show the amount of ideal (golden) hours left for the current sprint.
A burnup chart shows how many running, tested, features have been done and is thus more value-focussed.
What is the difference?
A burndown chart tracks net progress. It doesn’t easily depict changes in scope. For example, if we have 100 story points to burndown and we discover 20 missed points whilst completing 50 then we still have 70 left to do.
A burnup chart tracks gross progress.
When would you use each chart and why?
In Scrum, a burndown chart is best suited to depicting sprint progress because scope is not permitted change during a sprint. A burndown chart also gives the team a sense of an end goal (the ‘getting to zero’ feeling). On the other hand, a burn-up chart is best suited to depicting overall product progress because scope is likely to change throughout the lifetime of the project. Burnup will easily communicate these changes in scope because a change in the top line clearly indicates this change.
So why might you use a burnup chart for a sprint or iteration?
A burnup chart being used for tracking a sprint or iteration is generally a sign that a team is unable to work out its’ velocity. This can happen for a number of reasons, most notably:
- Poor estimation – tasks are not broken down into small enough pieces (rushed planning meeting)
- Unclear stories (information provided is often unsuitable)
- Poor acceptance criteria (not done before or during sprint planning)
- Missed tasks, such as reporting
- Working on items not in the sprint (such as items slipped in undercover, bugs or management tasks)
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