How we track technical debt
Our Approach
At GoodFit, we take a pragmatic approach to tracking technical debt. We only track tech debt that has a meaningful impact on our ability to deliver product value effectively. This means we focus on debt that:
- Slows us down in development or deployment
- Decreases system stability or maintainability
- Introduces a potential security risk
- Increases infrastructure costs to an unacceptable amount
We do not track tech debt purely for perfection that have no material effect on performance, security, or velocity.
Where We Track Tech Debt
All tracked tech debt items are recorded in our Jira Product Ideas list.
What Each Item Should Include
Each tech debt entry should contain the following:
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Problem Description Clearly explain what the issue is and where it exists in the system.
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Risk of Inaction Outline what could happen if we leave this unaddressed — e.g., slower delivery, instability, or potential security exposure.
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Suggested Approach Describe possible paths to remediation, including high-level ideas, refactors, or tooling improvements.
Review and Prioritization
We will review our tech debt list regularly (typically quarterly, but also ongoing if we have gaps) to ensure it remains relevant. Teams can also pull out items and work on them as part of standard delivery planning as long as we being pragmatic on this. Items that become high-impact or align with ongoing work will be pulled into the delivery backlog for prioritization and execution. Additionally, small items "quick wins" can be worked on by developers when they have gaps in other work streams.