Backlog Item Picker

What this generator does

Draws an item from a backlog. Its genuine use is narrow and real: when a backlog has fifty items of similar priority, the time spent choosing between them exceeds the difference it makes, and drawing settles it.

What you'll get

This generator draws from a hand-checked list of 15 entries. Here is a spread of 6 of them, so you can see the style before you generate:

• Fix the slow page-load issue reported last sprint
• Write documentation for the new API endpoint
• Improve error messages on the signup form
• Clean up unused dependencies
• Review and merge the pending pull request
• Investigate the recent spike in support tickets

A fixed sample of the list, not a live draw — your own results are picked at random from all 15, without repeating until the list runs out. Original authoring for Generate Random.. Last reviewed 2026-07-19.

How to use this tool

1. Press generate for a backlog item example.

Common use cases

• Demoing a project-management tool
• Teaching backlog prioritisation
• Populating a mockup board with examples

Randomness and fairness

Items are drawn uniformly with the browser's cryptographic random number generator, with no weighting by priority, size or age.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Limitations and good to know

• It ignores priority entirely. Never draw across items that are genuinely differently urgent — draw within a band of equal priority.
• Dependencies are not considered, so a draw may be blocked by something else in the list.
• This is a tie-breaker for a flat backlog, not a prioritisation method.