What type of information can be easily seen in a cumulative flow diagram?

Question

Options

• ATime to complete a Feature
• BTeam capacity
• CWork in process across the team
• DThe number of defects that escape to production

• A
  6% (1)
• C
  89% (16)
• D
  6% (1)

Explanation

A cumulative flow diagram (CFD) plots the count of work items in each workflow state (e.g., To Do, In Progress, Done) over time as stacked bands - making work in process (WIP) instantly visible as the vertical thickness of the "in progress" band at any point in time. Option A is wrong because cycle time (time to complete a feature) requires reading the horizontal distance between two bands, which is derived rather than directly shown. Option B is wrong because CFDs track work items, not team capacity or headcount. Option D is wrong because defect escape rates come from quality metrics, not flow visualization.

Memory tip: Think of a CFD as a "river of work" - the width of the river at any moment shows how much is flowing (WIP). Narrow = healthy flow; wide = bottleneck piling up.

No community discussion yet for this question.