Glossary
Key terms to help you navigate Atono with confidence.
A
Activities
A chronological timeline of actions related to stories, bugs, and feature flags. The Activities section helps teams maintain transparency and track accountability by providing a detailed history of changes, including who made them and when. For more details, see Activities.
Assignee
A user assigned to a bug or story, responsible for its completion. This should not be confused with assigning a story or bug to a team's backlog, which refers to associating the work item with a team rather than an individual.
Attachment
An image, video, or file added to a story or bug. Attachments provide additional context, supporting information, or documentation to help clarify or resolve an issue. They can be inserted inline within the text or uploaded to a designated area below the acceptance criteria. For more details, see Attachments.
Attachment access limited
You can access up to 1 TB of the most recent attachments in your workspace, based on when they were added. Older attachments are not deleted. In future, access to more attachments will be available by upgrading your plan.
B
Backlog
A prioritized list of stories and bugs that need to be completed by a team. Each team has its own backlog with steps like 'To do,' 'Design,' 'Development,' 'Test,' 'Review,' and 'Done.' Teams can customize these workflows to match their unique processes. For more details, see Backlog.
Bug
An error, flaw, or unintended behavior in software that causes it to function incorrectly or unexpectedly. Bugs are usually reported by users or identified during testing, and they're reviewed and addressed through the bug triage process. For more details, see Bugs.
Bug cycle time
The total time a bug spends in the steps in the 'In Progress' category of a team's workflow. For more details, see Cycle time.
Bug triage
A process where reported bugs are evaluated to determine their severity and priority. The triage process involves setting a probability and impact to provide a risk rating, then assigning the bug to a team for resolution. For more details, see Bug triage.
C
Category
See workflow category.
Comments
Feedback or notes added to a story or bug to provide additional context or discuss specific details. Comments can be added generally to a story or bug, or directly to highlighted text for easy reference. For more details, see Comments.
Condition
A condition is used to define a slice for a feature flag. Conditions consist of an attribute (such as Customer or Location), an operator, and a value. They help determine how feature flags are applied to specific users or locations based on the defined attributes.
Created
The date an item was created in Atono.
Creator
The person who creates a story or bug.
Cycle time
The amount of time it takes for a story or bug to move through the steps in a team's 'In Progress' workflow category. A team's average cycle time for stories and bug helps estimate completion dates for these items in the 'To do' category. For more details, see Cycle time.
Cycle time report
A report that tracks the time items spend in 'In Progress' workflow steps. It helps teams identify bottlenecks, measure efficiency, and make data-driven improvements with filters for item types, sizes, or timeframes. For more details, see Cycle time report.
E
Environment
An environment is a specific setting configured for different stages of the software lifecycle, such as development, testing, staging, and production. Each environment simulates the conditions under which the software will run, allowing for controlled and systematic development, testing, and deployment of applications.
Estimated completion dates
Estimated completion dates forecast when items in your team's 'To do' workflow category are likely to be completed, based on the team's past cycle time data and the current queue order. Dates dynamically update in real-time as you reorder the list, helping to plan and prioritize work. For more details, see Estimated completion dates.
Estimated size
A relative measure of effort required to complete a story, typically based on complexity or scope. Teams can assign sizes (Unsized, XXS, XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL) to stories during planning to prioritize work and improve estimated completion date forecasting.
F
Feature flag
Feature flags allow you to turn features and functionalities associated with your stories on and off in different environments, or slices of customer or regions without deploying new code. This is helpful for controlling who sees a new feature, to perform A/B testing, or to roll out features gradually to users. It also enables you to quickly roll back a story if issues arise after deployment. For more details, see Feature flags.
Flag owner
The person or team responsible for managing and maintaining a feature flag. The flag owner has full control over the flag, including the ability to modify its configuration, set conditions, assign permissions to other users, remove the flag from stories, and delete it.
Flag user
A person or team with permissions to use a feature flag. Flag users can toggle the flag on or off and configure slices based on the conditions defined by the flag owner but do not have the ability to manage or change ownership of the flag.
I
Impact
The severity of the effect if a user encounters a bug. In the bug triage process, impact is rated on a scale from 1 (Negligible) to 5 (Severe). It is multiplied by the probability to calculate the overall risk rating of the bug.
L
Last evaluated
The most recent time a feature flag's value was evaluated across all environments. This timestamp indicates when the system last checked the flag's conditions to determine its current value, regardless of the specific environment.
Linked items
Stories or bugs connected to each other to show relationships such as dependencies, duplicates, or related tasks. Linking items helps teams track connections, manage dependencies, and ensure all aspects of a feature or issue are addressed. For more details, see Linked items.
M
Mark as an outlier
The control to mark a story or bug as an outlier to exclude it from cycle time reporting, staleness indicators, and estimated completion dates. For more details, see Outliers.
Metatag
A snippet of HTML added to the <head> of a webpage, providing key information like the application environment and customer details for tools like the Atono Chrome extension. For more details, see Metatags.
More info required
An option in the bug triage process. Selecting this option moves the bug into the 'More info required' section, indicating that additional details are needed before the bug can be fully triaged or resolved.
O
Outlier
An item with a cycle time significantly longer that the team's average for similar items. Outliers can distort performance metrics, so Atono allows you to mark items as outliers to exclude them from cycle time calculations while retaining their data for reference. For more details, see Outliers.
P
Private team
Private teams are invite-only, meaning the team admin or a member must add you. These teams are ideal for projects that need to stay confidential, like sensitive work or security-related tasks. Only team members, team admins, and workspace Administrators can access a private team's backlog. For more details, see Public vs. private teams.
Probability
The likelihood that a user will encounter a bug. In the bug triage process, probability is rated on a scale from 1 (Impossible) to 5 (Certain). It is multiplied by the impact to calculate the overall risk rating of the bug.
Product theme
Coming soon...
Public team
A team that is open to everyone in the workspace. Any workspace member can join, add or remove members, and view the team's backlog, including the names and content of the stories. Public teams are fully accessible unless changed by the team admin. For more details, see Public vs. private teams.
R
Reporter
The person who is recorded as reporting the bug (this may not be the same person who created the bug in Atono). For more details, see Bugs > Change the reporter.
Restore default workflow
An option that resets a team's workflow to the default configuration, undoing any customizations such as renamed steps, reordered steps, changed step categories, colors, or step applicability to stories and bugs. Items within the workflow remain unaffected, ensuring no data is lost during the reset. For more details, see Restore the default workflow for a team.
Reject
An option in the bug triage process used to dismiss a bug. When selected, the bug is moved to the 'Won't do' section of the triage, indicating that it will not be addressed or resolved.
Risk rating
A numerical value used to assess the overall risk of a bug. It's calculated by multiplying the bug's probability (the likelihood of it being encountered) by its impact (the severity of the issue). The risk rating is on a scale of 1 to 25, with 25 representing the highest risk, helping prioritize which bugs to address first.
Role
A named entity that grants users access to resources like teams, stories, or bugs. Atono has two roles: Administrators, who have global administrative privileges, and Standard users, who have more limited access. Standard users can gain additional privileges if assigned as team admins or given feature flag permissions. For more details, see Roles and permissions.
S
SDK
A set of tools and libraries fromAtono that helps developers integrate and interact with the system’s feature flags and other functionalities. The SDK (software development kit) allows developers to implement Atono’s capabilities in their applications, such as toggling features on or off and evaluating conditions based on user-defined slices
Slice
A segment of users or environments defined by specific conditions, such as Customer or Location, in Atono's feature flag system. Slices allow you to target feature flags to particular groups, enabling more tailored feature rollouts and experiments within different environments or user groups. For more details, see Advanced configuration (slicing).
Snooze
A feature that temporarily hides a staleness indicator for a specific item in a specific workflow step, based on the team's average time for similarly sized items in that step. Once the snooze period ends, the staleness indicator reappears if the item still exceeds the average time in that step. For more details, see Snooze the staleness indicator.
Staleness indicator
A visual clue, represented by a red hourglass, that appears when an item has remained in a particular 'In progress' workflow step longer than the team's average for similar item types and size. This helps teams identify and address potential bottlenecks in their workflows. For more details, see Staleness indicator.
Standard user
The role for users who are not workspace Administrators. Standard users have limited access but can gain additional privileges if assigned as team admins or given feature flag permissions, allowing them to manage teams and feature flags within those specific contexts. For more details, see Standard users.
Step
See workflow step.
Story
A story is the smallest unit of work in Atono, representing a user-focused task or feature to be developed. Each story includes a title, user story, and acceptance criteria, helping teams deliver value incrementally while staying aligned with user needs. For more details, see Stories.
Story cycle time
The total time a story spends in the steps in the 'In Progress' category of a team's workflow. For more details, see Cycle time.
T
Team
A team consists of members and one or more team admins. A team admin does not have to be a member of the team. Each team has its own backlog to prioritize stories and bugs, and to track metrics on how long these items take to move through the steps of the team's workflow. For more details, see Teams.
Team admin
A member of a team who has been granted administrative privileges for that specific team. Team admins can manage team membership, modify team settings, and perform actions such as deleting the team or managing its backlog. However, their permissions are limited to the team they administer and do not extend to other teams or global workspace settings. For more details, see Team admins.
Team backlog
Each team has a designated backlog which contains the stories and bugs that the team is responsible for completing. The backlog can be used to prioritize the order in which these items should be worked on, and track their status throughout the development lifecycle (for example, if they're ready to do, in design, development, testing, or done). For more details, see Backlog.
Team overview
A screen that provides a summary of a team's activity, including its members, backlog, and general information. The team overview allows users to quickly view key details about the team, including its goals, recent progress, and access to its general Slack channel, if integrated. For more details, see Team overview.
Timebox
Coming soon...
Timeline
Coming soon...
Title
The name or label given to a story, bug, or other items in Atono. A title provides a brief, descriptive summary that helps users quickly understand the purpose or content of the item.
Triage
See Bug triage.
U
Unassigned to team
Each workspace includes a global backlog that holds items not currently assigned to any specific team. This section allows individuals with your company to develop and refine stories or bugs prior to assigning them to a team. Additionally, it accommodates tasks that may need to be addressed independently of team involvement.
Unavailable (cycle time)
Indicates that cycle time cannot currently be displayed for an item. This may happen because the item hasn’t entered any 'In Progress' steps or has returned to 'To Do' after being in progress (temporarily hiding its accumulated cycle time). For more details, see Unavailable cycle time.
Unmark as outlier
The control to unmark a story or bug as an outlier and include it in cycle time reporting, staleness indicators, and estimated completion dates. For more information, see Outliers.
Updated
The date an item was last updated in Atono.
User
Any individual who has access to Atono, either as a workspace Administrator or a Standard User. Users can perform actions based on their assigned role and permissions, such as creating stories, managing teams, or configuring feature flags.
User profile
The user profile helps manage personal details and integration settings within the workspace. It displays key information about a user, such as their email address, role, and name. Users can edit their name and connect their Slack account if the integration is enabled. For more details, see User profile.
W
Workflow
A sequence of steps that guide how stories and bugs move from start to completion. Workflows are customizable, allowing teams to define the steps that best fit their process. For more details, see Customize workflows.
Workflow step
An individual stage in a workflow that represents a specific point in the process, such as 'To do,' 'Design' and 'Testing.' Workflow steps are customizable by team admins to match their team's needs, including those in the 'In progress' category, which impact cycle time calculations. For more details, see Workflow steps.
Workflow category
A grouping or classification of workflow steps, used to organize different types of workflows in Atono. Categories can help differentiate workflows for various tasks, such as development, design, or testing, and support customization for specific team needs. For more details, see Workflow categories.
Workspace
When you log in to Atono, you're accessing a workspace. A workspace is the container for all of the teams, stories, bugs, and any other elements that relate to your company. Each workspace has a unique URL, formatted as example.atono.io.
Updated 4 days ago