Technical Debt Register
Track, prioritize, and communicate technical debt. Log debt items with severity and effort, calculate interest cost, and generate stakeholder reports.
Why use Technical Debt Register?
Technical debt accumulates silently until it becomes a crisis. Every shortcut, every 'we'll fix it later' adds up. This tool helps you make debt visible, prioritize what to fix first, and communicate the cost of not addressing it to stakeholders.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is technical debt?
Technical debt is the implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy solution now instead of a better approach that would take longer. Like financial debt, it accumulates 'interest' over time in the form of slower development, more bugs, and harder maintenance.
How do I estimate the interest rate?
Think about how much time you waste each week because of this debt. Extra debugging time, workarounds, explaining the quirks to new developers, or slower feature development. Even a rough estimate helps prioritize.
Should I fix all technical debt?
No. Some debt has low interest and would take too long to fix - it's not worth the investment. Focus on high-severity, high-interest debt that's blocking you regularly. Use the priority matrix to identify what to tackle first.
How do I get buy-in from management?
Use the weekly interest metric. Show them 'We're losing X hours per week due to technical debt.' Frame it as an investment: 'If we spend 20 hours fixing this, we save 5 hours every week going forward.'