Velocity, Burndown, and Burn-Up Charts Explained

Velocity and Agile Charts

Velocity is the engine behind two essential agile charts: the burndown and the burn-up. Understanding all three helps you communicate progress effectively.

Sprint Burndown Chart

Shows remaining work within a single sprint. Updated daily.

Day 1:  |████████████████████| 30 pts remaining
Day 3:  |████████████████    | 24 pts remaining
Day 5:  |████████████        | 18 pts remaining
Day 7:  |████████            | 12 pts remaining
Day 10: |██                  |  3 pts remaining

Ideal line: A straight diagonal from total to zero. Reality is usually step-shaped because stories complete in chunks, not continuously.

Release Burn-Up Chart

Shows cumulative completed work against total scope. Updated per sprint.

Sprint:  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8
Done:    25   52   80   105  130  155  178  200
Scope:   200  200  210  210  215  215  215  215

The burn-up is superior to burndown for release tracking because it makes scope changes visible. If the scope line rises, stakeholders can see that the target moved.

How Velocity Connects

• Burndown: The daily burn rate within a sprint should roughly equal velocity / sprint_days
• Burn-up: The slope of the "Done" line equals average velocity
• Projection: Extending the burn-up line at the velocity slope forecasts the completion date

Forecasting with the Burn-Up

Remaining scope:   215 - 155 = 60 points
Velocity:          ~27 pts/sprint
Sprints to go:     60 / 27 = 2.2 sprints

Optimistic (30/sprint): 60 / 30 = 2.0 sprints
Conservative (24/sprint): 60 / 24 = 2.5 sprints

Which Chart When?

Chart	Use For	Audience
Sprint burndown	Daily sprint health	Development team
Release burn-up	Release forecasting	Stakeholders, PM
Velocity chart	Trend analysis	Scrum Master, team