In Agile project management, visual tracking tools carry high significance to support transparency, communication, and timely delivery. Two common charts are the burnup chart and the burndown chart. They often get mistaken to be similar and complementary tools, really, they serve different purposes and might also offer different types of insight, depending on what you need for your project.
This blog will discuss the distinctions between the two charts, explain what each one illustrates, and try to aid you in your decision on which chart you should be using for your Agile sprints or releases.
What Is a Burndown Chart in Agile?
An Agile burndown chart shows the work remaining versus time. This simple yet potent tool enables teams to assess their own progress and make predictions regarding their finish.
In a usual sprint burndown chart, the X-axis represents time, usually days in a sprint, while the Y-axis shows the remaining work—story points, hours, or tasks.
What Does a Burndown Chart Exhibit?
Doctored work (ideal line): A linear representation of the rate of progress expected.
Remaining work in actuality: A fluctuating line contingent on the quantity of work yet to be finished.
Ideally, the line representing actual work should fall smoothly toward zero, declaring the team is getting along well. Divergences from the ideal line, however, carry warnings of possible issues.
Types of Burndown Charts:
- Sprint Burndown Chart: Track daily progress within a sprint.
- Release Burndown Chart: Track progress of multiple sprints inside a release cycle.
What Is the Purpose of a Sprint Burndown Chart?
Purpose is to:
- Track team performance
- Spot bottlenecks early
- Discuss progress in daily Scrum stand-ups
- Help with predicting sprints
What Is a Burnup Charts?
In contrast, a burnup chart tracks how much work has been completed against the total scope of work over time. Therefore, the X-axis represents time, similar to that in a burndown chart, but the Y-axis tracks the effort that has been completed.
Typically, burnup charts have two major lines:
- Work Completed: a line that ascends to indicate cumulative progress.
- Total Scope: a line that is either horizontal or moves according to changes in total work.
What Sets Burnup Charts Apart?
Their main advantage is the ability to display scope changes. The line of total scope rises when additional tasks or stories are added during either a sprint or release, clearly showing scope creep that burndown charts tend to mask.
Burnup vs Burndown Chart: Key Differences
| Feature | Burndown Chart | Burnup Chart |
| Tracks | Work remaining | Work completed |
| Scope changes visible | No | Yes |
| Readability | Simple and quick to understand | Slightly more complex but insightful |
| Ideal for | Sprint tracking (short-term) | Release tracking (longer-term, scope variable) |
| Shows progress trend | Downward line | Upward line |
| Useful for Agile? | Yes – especially in Scrum | Yes – ideal in Agile and Kanban as well |
When to Use Burnup and Burndown Charts
Use a burndown chart when:
- A quick daily update is required during a sprint.
- Scope is fixed and you want to track remaining work.
- Running days of Scrum sprints with frequent team check-ins.
A burnup chart is used when:
- Scope changes may take place during the project.
- You want to demonstrate to the stakeholders progression and scope creep.
- Managing longer release cycles with a historical view in mind.
Best Practices when Using Burnup and Burndown Charts
Keep your charts up to date: Have team members track the progress on a daily basis.
- Use both charts if possible: Many Agile teams blend the two for a wholesome view.
- Customize charts for clients: Project management tools like Doinsights allow you to define custom views for stakeholders.
- Visualization matters: Use color-coding and legends on charts, and do not overlook tooltips.
Burnup and Burndown Charts in Doinsights
At Doinsights, we give teams the power to use both burn down and burn up charts within Agile environments. This gives you the ability to flexibly track a sprint, a release, or progress through an entire project portfolio with clarity.
- Quickly toggle between burnup and burndown charts
- Visualize sprint velocity, scope changes, and completion trends
- Customize views for developers, managers, and clients
- Export reports or integrate into real-time dashboards
Final Thoughts
Knowing about the differences between burnup- and burndown-chart types allows one to have an effective project tracking system for Agile. Having a burnup or a burndown chart might serve all kinds of useful purposes depending on your project; hence some others may need it more, dependent on project complexity, stakeholder needs, and their Agile maturity.
Good thing that you do not have to pick between either one!
With project management tools such as Doinsights, you can use the power of burnup and burndown charts to fully equip your teams and stakeholders with real-time dashboards explaining progress, scope, and performance.
