ReserveEasy Product Backlog
Last Updated: February 8, 2026
Product Owner: [Your Name]
Team Velocity: ~21 story points per 2-week sprint
Backlog Structure
This backlog is prioritized using the MoSCoW method combined with RICE scoring.
Legend:
- Status: 🚀 In Progress | ✅ Done | 📝 Ready | 💡 Needs Refinement
- Priority: P0 (Must-Have) | P1 (Should-Have) | P2 (Nice-to-Have)
- Story Points: Fibonacci scale (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21)
Sprint 15 (Current) - Goal: Enable Booking Modifications
| Status | ID | User Story | Priority | Points | Assignee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🚀 | US-045 | As a diner, I want to change my reservation time, so I can adjust if my plans change | P0 | 8 | Alex |
| 🚀 | US-046 | As a diner, I want to increase my party size, so I can accommodate an extra guest | P0 | 5 | Maya |
| 📝 | US-047 | As a restaurant manager, I want to see modification requests, so I can approve/deny based on availability | P0 | 8 | Jordan |
Sprint Commitment: 21 points
Upcoming Sprints (Sprint 16-18)
Epic 1: Guest Booking Flow (Must-Have for MVP)
US-001: Search Restaurants
As a diner,
I want to search for restaurants by cuisine and location,
So that I can find a place that matches my preferences.
Acceptance Criteria:
- GIVEN I'm on the homepage
- WHEN I enter "Italian" in cuisine and "Manhattan" in location
- THEN I see a list of Italian restaurants in Manhattan sorted by relevance
- AND I can filter by price range ($, $$, $$$, $$$$)
- AND I can sort by distance, rating, or availability
Priority: P0 (MVP blocker)
Story Points: 8
RICE Score: 3200 (Reach: 10,000 | Impact: 3 | Confidence: 100% | Effort: 2.5 weeks)
Status: 📝 Ready
US-002: View Restaurant Details
As a diner,
I want to see restaurant photos, menu, and reviews,
So that I can decide if it's a good fit before booking.
Acceptance Criteria:
- GIVEN I click on a restaurant from search results
- WHEN the restaurant page loads
- THEN I see name, address, phone, cuisine type, price range
- AND I see at least 3 photos (or placeholder if unavailable)
- AND I see hours of operation
- AND I see a "Check Availability" button
Priority: P0
Story Points: 5
Status: 📝 Ready
Dependencies: US-001 (Search must exist first)
US-003: Check Real-Time Availability
As a diner,
I want to see which time slots are available on my desired date,
So that I can pick a time that works for me.
Acceptance Criteria:
- GIVEN I select a date and party size on the restaurant page
- WHEN I click "Check Availability"
- THEN I see available time slots in 30-minute increments (e.g., 17:00, 17:30, 18:00)
- AND unavailable slots are grayed out or hidden
- AND I can select a different date to check other days
Technical Notes:
- Query
bookingstable to calculate available capacity - Implement optimistic locking to prevent double-bookings
- Cache availability for 30 seconds to reduce DB load
Priority: P0
Story Points: 13 (Complex - involves real-time DB queries)
Status: 💡 Needs Refinement (Discuss caching strategy)
US-004: Create Booking (Guest)
As a guest diner (not logged in),
I want to complete a booking without creating an account,
So that I can reserve quickly without friction.
Acceptance Criteria:
- GIVEN I selected a time slot
- WHEN I click "Book This Time"
- THEN I see a form with fields: Name, Email, Phone, Special Requests (optional)
- AND all fields validate (email format, phone format)
- WHEN I submit
- THEN I see a confirmation page with booking details and confirmation code
- AND I receive an SMS within 30 seconds
Priority: P0
Story Points: 8
Status: 📝 Ready
US-005: SMS Confirmation
As a diner,
I want to receive SMS confirmation immediately after booking,
So that I have proof of my reservation and peace of mind.
Acceptance Criteria:
- GIVEN I complete a booking
- WHEN payment/booking is confirmed
- THEN I receive an SMS within 30 seconds to my provided phone number
- AND the SMS includes: restaurant name, date, time, party size, confirmation code
- AND the SMS includes a link to view/modify the booking
Technical Notes:
- Integrate Twilio SMS API
- Handle SMS delivery failures gracefully (retry 3 times, then fallback to email)
- Log delivery status to
bookingstable (sms_sent,sms_delivered)
Priority: P0
Story Points: 5
Status: 📝 Ready
Dependencies: US-004
Epic 2: Reservation Management (Should-Have for MVP)
US-006: View My Reservations
As a registered diner,
I want to see a list of my upcoming and past reservations,
So that I can keep track of where I'm dining.
Priority: P1
Story Points: 5
Status: 📝 Ready
US-007: Cancel Booking
As a diner,
I want to cancel my reservation,
So that I can free up the table if my plans change.
Acceptance Criteria:
- GIVEN I have an upcoming booking
- WHEN I click "Cancel Reservation"
- THEN I see a confirmation dialog: "Are you sure? This cannot be undone"
- WHEN I confirm
- THEN booking status changes to "cancelled"
- AND I receive an SMS: "Your reservation at [restaurant] on [date] has been cancelled"
- AND if I paid a deposit >24 hours before, it's refunded within 3-5 business days
Business Rules:
- Cancellations >24 hours before: full refund
- Cancellations 2-24 hours before: 50% refund
- Cancellations <2 hours before: no refund
Priority: P0
Story Points: 8
Status: 📝 Ready
Epic 3: Deposit System (Should-Have for MVP)
US-010: Require Deposit for Large Parties
As a restaurant manager,
I want to collect a $10/person deposit for parties of 6+,
So that I reduce the financial risk of no-shows.
Acceptance Criteria:
- GIVEN a diner is booking for 6+ people
- WHEN they reach the payment step
- THEN they see: "Deposit required: $60 (refundable if you show up)"
- AND they can pay via Stripe (credit card)
- AND deposit is refunded automatically when booking is marked "completed"
Priority: P1
Story Points: 13 (Involves Stripe integration, refund logic)
Status: 💡 Needs Refinement
Epic 4: Restaurant Partner Dashboard (Should-Have)
US-015: View Upcoming Reservations (Restaurant)
As a restaurant manager,
I want to see today's and tomorrow's reservations in a dashboard,
So that I can plan staffing and table assignments.
Acceptance Criteria:
- GIVEN I log into the restaurant portal
- WHEN I navigate to "Reservations"
- THEN I see a list of upcoming bookings sorted by time
- AND each booking shows: time, party size, customer name, phone, special requests
- AND I can filter by date
Priority: P1
Story Points: 5
Status: 📝 Ready
US-016: Mark Booking as No-Show
As a restaurant host,
I want to mark a booking as "no-show" if the diner doesn't arrive,
So that we can track no-show rates and penalize repeat offenders.
Priority: P1
Story Points: 3
Status: 📝 Ready
US-017: View Analytics (No-Show Rate)
As a restaurant manager,
I want to see my no-show rate over the last 30 days,
So that I can measure the impact of ReserveEasy.
Acceptance Criteria:
- GIVEN I navigate to "Analytics"
- THEN I see a chart showing no-show % by week
- AND I see the total number of no-shows vs confirmed bookings
Priority: P2
Story Points: 8 (Involves charting library, SQL queries)
Status: 💡 Needs Refinement
Icebox (Low Priority / Future Consideration)
These features have been deprioritized but may be revisited:
| ID | User Story | Reason for Deferral |
|---|---|---|
| US-050 | As a diner, I want to leave a review after dining | Not core to booking flow; can add in v2 |
| US-051 | As a diner, I want to earn loyalty points for bookings | Complex, requires separate points system; v3 |
| US-052 | As a diner, I want to join a waitlist if fully booked | MVP focuses on reservations only; v2.5 |
Backlog Refinement Notes
Last Refinement Session: Feb 5, 2026
Key Decisions:
- US-003 (Availability): Decided to implement 30-second caching to balance real-time accuracy with performance
- US-010 (Deposits): Deferred to Sprint 17 due to Stripe integration complexity
- US-017 (Analytics): Moved to P2 after discussing with stakeholders; nice-to-have but not MVP blocker
Next Refinement: Feb 12, 2026 (mid-Sprint 15)
RICE Scoring Matrix (Sample)
| Story | Reach (users/mo) | Impact (1-3) | Confidence (%) | Effort (weeks) | RICE Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US-001 (Search) | 10,000 | 3 (Massive) | 100% | 2 | 3,200 |
| US-003 (Availability) | 8,000 | 3 (Massive) | 80% | 3 | 2,133 |
| US-004 (Create Booking) | 8,000 | 3 (Massive) | 100% | 2 | 4,000 |
| US-017 (Analytics) | 500 | 1 (Low) | 70% | 2 | 175 |
Prioritization Rule: Sort by RICE score descending → build highest-value features first.
Definition of Ready (for a story to enter a sprint)
- [ ] Acceptance criteria defined
- [ ] Story points estimated by team
- [ ] Dependencies identified
- [ ] Design mockups attached (if UI change)
- [ ] Technical approach discussed
- [ ] No blockers
Definition of Done (for a story to be considered complete)
- [ ] Code written and peer-reviewed
- [ ] Unit tests passing (>80% coverage)
- [ ] Manual testing completed (QA sign-off)
- [ ] Documentation updated (API docs, README)
- [ ] Deployed to staging and verified
- [ ] Product Owner accepted