Watch the Video
Or watch it directly on YouTube: Click here
Video Description
Before you build elaborate hierarchies of epics, features, and stories, let me save you some pain: most of the time, you don't need all that structure. This video shows you when hierarchy helps — and when it just gets in the way.
What you'll learn:
- The "chewing the apple" problem: breaking work down for development ≠ shipping each piece separately
- When requirements "graduate" to features (and when they shouldn't)
- Two different concerns:
- Software Development (dev team, requirements, Definition of Done)
- Product Delivery (product owner, features, release coordination)
- Why your dev team works on requirements, not features
- The End Test: does this ever actually end?
- Why categories like "Security" and "Admin" don't belong on your backlog
- The three-question diagnostic for any item on your list
Key insights:
- A requirement is shippable functionality — if it ships alone and delivers value, you're done
- Features emerge from necessity, not bureaucracy — requirements "graduate" when they need to ship together
- Definition of Done lives at the requirement level. Always.
- The dev team is indirectly working on features by completing requirements — but their focus stays on requirements
- Features are the product owner's tool for release coordination — their "problem" to solve
- If something never ends (Security, UX, Admin), it's a category, not a work item — use it as a tag
- Empty parent fields are fine; don't create hierarchy you don't need
Previous Video: Why Small Requirements Win Next Video: "This Can't Be Split Any Further" ► Full Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGxFXI4dC2shCJwhTY-P2726zts26_AKF
Subscribe and enable notifications — we're building practical project management skills from the ground up.
Chapters
- 0:00 Features, Chunks, and Things That Never End
- 0:31 What Is a Requirement?
- 1:10 The 'Chewing the Apple' Problem
- 1:25 When Pieces Need Each Other
- 2:07 This Is When Features Emerge
- 2:43 Two Different Concerns
- 3:52 Who Owns What
- 4:16 A Simple Decision
- 4:35 Requirements vs. Features
- 5:33 Things That Never End
- 5:46 The End Test
- 6:29 Categories Are Just Tags
- 7:02 The Simplest Possible Structure
- 7:33 Common Mistakes
- 8:21 A Quick Diagnostic
- 8:57 Key Takeaways
Video Info
- Duration: 10:04
- Published: December 08, 2025
