What is a burndown chart?
A burndown chart is a line chart that shows how much work is left in the sprint as the sprint progresses. The Y-axis is remaining story points (or hours); the X-axis is days. The line should trend toward zero by the end of the sprint.
What a burndown chart tells you
- On track — actual line tracks close to the ideal diagonal.
- Cliff at the end — most points get burned in the last day or two. Suggests work was bunched up; the team didn't ship incrementally.
- Flat then sudden drop — tickets sat in "in progress" too long. Likely a definition-of-done problem.
- Going up — scope was added mid-sprint. Either accept it (and re-plan) or push back.
Burndown vs burnup
A burnup chart is the inverse: it shows completed work climbing toward the total. Burnups make scope changes more visible because the "total" line moves when scope is added or removed. Burndowns hide scope changes inside the remaining-work line.
Common burndown mistakes
- Reading too much into a single sprint — burndown shapes are noisy. Look across multiple sprints.
- Optimising for a clean line — teams gaming the chart by closing tickets early.
- Ignoring it — chart only matters if the team uses it for daily check-ins.
Related
SprintFlint generates burndown charts automatically as tickets move. See it free →