This set builds vocabulary for visualizing and managing work with a kanban board.
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
At standup, a dev mentions dragging a task card from an in-progress column into a done column to reflect its completed status. What is this visual system called?
A kanban board visualizes work as cards moving through columns representing stages, like to-do, in-progress, and done, giving the whole team an at-a-glance view of where every task currently stands. This visual workflow management approach originated in manufacturing and was adapted widely for software and knowledge work. Trello is one of many tools built around this core kanban board concept.
2 / 5
During a design review, the team sets a maximum number of cards allowed in the in-progress column at any one time. What is this constraint called?
A work-in-progress limit caps how many cards can occupy a given column, like in-progress, at once, discouraging the team from starting more work than it can realistically handle concurrently and encouraging finishing existing tasks before pulling in new ones. This constraint is a core kanban practice for improving flow and reducing context-switching. Enforcing it surfaces bottlenecks earlier than an unconstrained column would.
3 / 5
In a code review, a dev adds a checklist, due date, and assigned team member to a single card representing one unit of work. What does this represent?
Adding structured elements like a checklist, due date, and assignee to a card turns a simple visual token into a more complete record of a task's requirements and ownership, without abandoning the lightweight, visual nature of the board itself. This balance between simplicity and structure is part of what makes kanban-style tools broadly applicable. Overloading every card with excessive detail, though, can undermine the board's at-a-glance clarity.
4 / 5
An incident report style retro shows a team's in-progress column had accumulated dozens of stalled cards with no WIP limit enforced, obscuring real bottlenecks. What practice would address this?
Without an enforced WIP limit, an in-progress column can silently accumulate stalled work, hiding the fact that the team has taken on far more than it can actually complete concurrently. Enforcing a limit forces a conversation about finishing existing work before starting anything new, surfacing the bottleneck directly rather than letting it hide in an ever-growing column. This is a foundational kanban discipline for keeping a board's signal meaningful.
5 / 5
During a PR review, a teammate asks why the team visualizes work on a kanban board instead of just maintaining a flat to-do list. What is the reasoning?
A flat to-do list shows what needs doing but not where each item currently stands in the workflow or where work is piling up, while a kanban board's columns make that flow and any bottlenecks immediately visible to the whole team. This visibility is the main value proposition of the kanban approach over a simple linear list. It's most useful when a team's work genuinely passes through multiple distinct stages.