Artefact

Artefact – a manmade object

The term “artefact” comes from Latin and means “handicraft” or “what has been made”. It is therefore an object created by humans. This very general approach makes it possible to speak of artefacts in

• archaeology,
• diagnostics,
• forensics,
• but also in photography,
• technology
• and even in market and media research.

But also in project management, software development and Unified Modeling Language (UML) the term is used.

Artefacts in the context of companies

In UML, an artefact represents the result of a work process, e.g.

• a file with source code,
• one element in the distribution diagram
• or a text document with defined requirements for a system.

Software development also offers the option of generating artefacts by generation and thus generating a piece of code from a UML, SysML or BPMN diagram using software, for example. Such approaches are called “Model Diven Development”.

The situation is similar in project management: artefacts, e.g.

• reports,
• risk lists
• or schedules

can be generated with appropriate software.

Scrum as a framework that helps people, teams and organisations to generate value through adaptive solutions to complex problems defines three artefacts:

• the product backlog,
• the sprint backlog and
• the product increment.

The German V-Modell XT offers a special feature as a guideline for the planning and implementation of system development projects, which declares artefacts as products. Every intermediate and final result, every requirement and every change request, every project proposal and every customer specification is a product. Consequently, V-Modell XT is also understood as a product-centered process model.

Even though there are artefacts in many areas of the company, the term as such is rarely used. Why is that?

Notes:

The term “artefact” is mainly used in British English, while “artifact” is used in American English. Both words carry the same meaning.

Here you can find a short German language video about the artefacts in Scrum.