Hill charts

Hill charts vs. burndown charts

A burndown chart measures remaining work against time. A hill chart describes the state of understanding behind work that remains.

Burndown tracks volume

Burndown is effective when work units are comparable and a sprint backlog is stable. It makes changes in throughput visible.

Hills track confidence

A hill chart does not claim that all scopes are equal units. It makes it clear where discovery, ambiguity, and decisions are affecting progress.

Choose the conversation

Use burndown for capacity and sprint flow. Use Hillchart for shaped work where the central management question is what has been figured out.