7.2Core Kanban Concepts

Visual Board

Work items move through columns representing workflow stages. Everyone can see the state of all work at a glance.

| To Do    | In Progress | In Review | Testing   | Done      |
|----------|-------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| SHOP-901 | SHOP-789    | SHOP-654  | SHOP-456  | SHOP-321  |
| SHOP-902 |             |           | SHOP-457  | SHOP-322  |
| SHOP-903 |             |           |           | SHOP-323  |
|          |             |           |           | SHOP-324  |

WIP Limits

WIP (Work in Progress) limits restrict the number of items in each column. This is the most important and most counterintuitive principle in Kanban.

| To Do    | In Progress (3) | In Review (2) | Testing (3)  | Done     |
|          | WIP limit: 3    | WIP limit: 2  | WIP limit: 3 |          |

If the Testing column has a WIP limit of 3 and there are already 3 items there, no new items can move in until one moves out. This prevents QA from being overwhelmed and forces the team to help unblock testing before starting new work.

Why WIP Limits Work

Without WIP limits:

• Developers start 10 features simultaneously
• 10 half-finished features pile up in "Testing"
• QA cannot keep up
• Everything is "in progress," nothing is "done"
• Context-switching kills productivity for everyone

With WIP limits:

• Developers finish features before starting new ones
• Items flow through the board steadily
• If testing is backed up, developers help with test automation or bug investigation
• The team finishes work instead of starting work

Pull System

In Kanban, QA pulls the next item when they have capacity, rather than being pushed work by developers. This means QA can prioritize what to test based on risk and business value, not on who finishes coding first.

Lead Time and Cycle Time

Metric	What It Measures	Why It Matters
Lead time	Time from item creation to completion	How long customers wait for features
Cycle time	Time from work starting to completion	How long items are actively being worked on
Throughput	Items completed per time period	Team capacity and predictability