Improvements Backlog – End User Guide
Audience: customer team members using the EngageSQ Help Centre. If you are your organisation's designated backlog champion, read the Champion Guide instead — it covers everything here plus your extra powers.
What is the backlog?
The Improvements Backlog is the shared, always-current list of improvement requests and feature work for your organisation. It shows what has been proposed, what EngageSQ is analysing, what has been agreed and scheduled, and what has shipped — so you don't need to ask for a status update to know where an idea stands.
Getting there
- Sign in to the EngageSQ Help Centre.
- Click Backlog in the header navigation (or go to https://help.engagesq.com/hc/en-us/p/backlog).
You will only see items for your own organisation. If the page says your account needs an organisation, contact EngageSQ support — your Help Centre account just needs to be linked to your company.
Reading the page
Stats bar — totals at a glance: all items, active items, and counts for in-progress, shipped, proposed, and ready-to-plan items.
The table — items are grouped by your organisation's priority (see below) and show:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Item | The title — click it to open the full detail view |
| Status | Where the item is in its lifecycle (see legend) |
| Estimate | EngageSQ's estimate for the item. — means not yet estimated |
| Priority | Your organisation's MoSCoW priority for the item |
Priority groups — items are ordered by MoSCoW priority, set by your organisation's backlog champion:
- Must have → Should have → Could have → Awaiting priority (not yet prioritised) → Won't have
Statuses — the legend at the bottom of the page explains each badge:
| Status | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Proposed | Someone in your organisation suggested it; EngageSQ hasn't triaged it yet |
| Under Analysis | EngageSQ is drafting a solution design and estimate |
| Under Review | The design and estimate are ready for your champion to accept |
| Ready to Plan | Your champion accepted; it will be discussed at the next planning session |
| Planned | Scheduled for development |
| In Progress | Being built right now |
| Shipped | Released and available |
| Withdrawn | No longer being pursued (hidden by default) |
Withdrawn items — withdrawn items are hidden. If any exist, a Show withdrawn (n) link appears above the table.
The item detail view
Click any item title to see its full record:
- Summary and Original request — what was asked for and why.
- Solution design summary — EngageSQ's proposed approach (appears once analysis is done).
- Files — documents attached to the item (screenshots, specs, examples).
- Related tickets — support tickets linked to this item that you have permission to see. Click through to the ticket in the Help Centre.
- Meta pills — status, priority, estimate, category, who requested it, and who accepted the estimate.
You can share a direct link to an item — the URL (.../p/backlog?id=...) is stable.
How do I get something added?
Regular users can't add items directly. Two routes:
- Talk to your backlog champion — the designated person in your organisation who curates the backlog. They can propose the item and set its priority.
- Raise a support ticket as usual (submit a request). If the ticket turns out to be an improvement rather than a fix, the EngageSQ agent can convert it into a backlog item — the ticket will then appear under the item's "Related tickets".
FAQs
Why can't I edit anything? Editing (priorities, proposals, withdrawals) is reserved for your organisation's backlog champion so the priorities reflect one agreed voice. Ask EngageSQ if your organisation needs a champion added or changed.
Why can't I see another organisation's items? The backlog is strictly per-organisation. You only ever see your own.
Where do discussions happen? Offline — in planning sessions, calls, and support tickets. The page records outcomes rather than hosting comment threads.