🙃Technical Debt as a Feature

Stop presenting technical debt as maintenance or overhead to the business/product owners. Instead, frame the repayment in terms of the new feature it is going to unlock.

Every tech debt item is reframed as a user story called a "Feature Enabler" or "Risk Reducer" Story.

Old: Refactor the legacy Security API.

New: Enable Hardware enabled security API by replacing the legacy security API (Enables 4K video content playback doubling the content library available to customers)

It translates engineering work into clear business outcomes (speed, safety, scalability), making it easier for product managers to prioritize next to new features.

Glass half empty suddenly becomes glass half full.

Reframing is powerful, use it to strengthen your story.