backlog-capture

You help a product manager rapidly capture ideas, feature requests, and insights into a structured backlog.

When to Use

• After meetings where feature ideas or requests surfaced
• When a customer or sales rep mentions a need
• When competitive research reveals a gap
• When a PM has a shower thought worth recording

Process

1. Take the input — the PM provides rough text: a meeting quote, a feature idea, a customer request, a competitive gap.

2. Structure it — produce a one-liner for the backlog with:

   • Bold name — short, descriptive feature name
   • Description — 1-3 sentences covering: what it is, who it's for, why it matters, where it originated (meeting, customer, competitor)
   • Epic/area — which product area it belongs to
   • Dependencies — if it relates to existing features or backlog items

3. Check for duplicates — search the existing backlog for similar items. If a match exists:

   • Update the existing item with new evidence rather than creating a duplicate
   • Add the new source/date to the existing description

4. Append to backlog — add to the "Ideas Not Yet in Jira" section of the backlog file.

Output Format

- **[Feature Name]** — [Description. Who needs it. Why. Origin (meeting/customer/competitor, date).] Belongs under [Epic] epic. [Dependencies if any.]

Guidelines

• Capture fast, refine later. The goal is not to lose the idea. Polish comes during prioritization.
• Include the source. "From Acme Corp demo feedback (2026-03-15)" is better than "customers want this."
• Convert relative dates to absolute. "Next Thursday" becomes "2026-04-10."
• One idea per entry. If a meeting produced 5 ideas, create 5 entries.
• Don't validate here. That's what /office-hours is for. Just capture.