Technical Debt Explained

In software development, technical debt (also known as design debt)  is the implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy (limited) solution now instead of using a better approach that would take longer.

If technical debt is not repaid, it can accumulate “interest”, making it harder to implement changes.

Unaddressed technical debt:

• Increases the likelihood of unexpected errors and solution defects.
• Increases the cost of future rework.
• Decreases product quality.

Robert Pieper, Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainer explains the problems technical debt causes and how can teams remove it.