Release burndown charts Example

You can use information in the release burndown charts to track the progress in a project, and determine the amount of work remaining.
The project consists of ten iterations, and the number of story points remaining throughout the first six iterations was

• Iteration 1 – 100
• Iteration 2 – 80
• Iteration 3 – 55
• Iteration 4 – 65
• Iteration 5 – 50
• Iteration 6 – 45

There were also a few changes to the project scope.

Story points remaining

	Iteration 1	Iteration 2	Iteration 3	Iteration 4	Iteration 5	Iteration 6
Progress	100	80	55	65	50	45
Scope change	0	0	15 points added	10 points added	25 points added	0

Now consider three possible release burndown charts and determine which chart corresponds to the data provided about each iteration.
In chart A, the bar for iteration 1 extends from zero to 100 points, and the bar for iteration 2 extends from zero to 80 points. The bar for iteration 3 extends from -15 to 55 points. The bar for iteration 4 extends from -10 to 65 points. The bar for iteration 5 extends from -25 to 50, and the bar for iteration 6 extends from 0 to 45.

Chart A

In chart B, the bar for iteration 1 extends from zero to 100 points, the bar for iteration 2 extends from zero to 80 points, and the bar for iteration 3 extends from zero to 55 points, with 15 points highlighted in red. The bar for iteration 4 extends from zero to 50 points, with 10 points highlighted in red. For iteration 5, the bar extends from zero to 50, and 25 points have been indicated in red. For iteration 6, the bar extends from zero to 45.

Chart B

In chart C, the bar for iteration 1 runs from zero to 100 points and the bar for iteration 2 runs from zero to 80 points. The bar for iteration 3 extends from -55 to 15 points, with 15 points indicated in red above the X-axis. For iteration 4, the bar extends from -65 to 10 points, and 10 points are highlighted in red above the X-axis. For iteration 5, the bar extends from -50 to 25, and 25 points are highlighted in red above the X-axis. The bar for iteration 6 extends from zero to 45.

Chart C