Refining issues is all about knowing enough to start work – and have a high chance of successfully finishing it. This document tells users how to refine issues in Klar once the app has been configured by your Project Admin.
Jump to:
Finding Klar
To begin refining issues in Klar, click on the Klar menu option in the project nav.
Understanding the Klar app Layout
You’ll enter the Klar app as shown below. There are 3 main columns.
List of Issues (left pane)
There is a toggle at the top of the pane that allows you to decide if items that are considered Ready (aka Refinement is complete) are shown. By default this is toggled off.
As refinement is done, issues will disappear from the left pane. If they do not, you can click on the refresh icon to force an update.
Issue Details (center pane)
This pane shows information about the Jira issue in order to help you in your refinement process.
Currently there is a limitation of the Forge platform and we cannot embed the issue here directly as you may see in other areas. As that is provided, we will update this experience to make it more similar to other areas of Jira.
Refinement area (right pane)
At the very top you can click on the VIEW ISSUE button to open the issue in a new tab. This can be useful if not all information is showing in the center pane.
Underneath that you do the actual refinement by answering configured questions and noting any Dependencies or Interested Parties.
Answering Refinement Questions
The list of questions that shows up here is configured by your Project Admin. There is only one set of questions for all issues in the project at this time.
To answer a question, click on the icon to the left of the question text. This will make a dropdown appear.
You can choose from the following answers:
Yes
No
Unknown (default)
As you answer the questions the view will update to show your selections
Once all of the questions are marked with a checkmark (“Yes”) then the item is considered refined and ready to start and the Refinement Complete field is updated.
Add context to your answer
Sometimes just Yes or No isn’t enough - you need to add a bit more context. There are 2 features that can be utilized to help with this.
Adding a comment with your answer
Whenever you choose an answer, you’ll get a dialog box that gives you an opportunity to add a comment.
This is a comment that relates to the current answer and it will be visible from the 
icon in the top right corner of that question’s box.
Choosing a common reason for your answer
Often there are common reasons for why you will say Yes or No. Your Project Admin can configure these to allow you to choose them when you answer questions. This can save you time! You can still add additional comments if you need to share further information.
Editing your comment or common reason
Whenever you choose an answer you will be given the opportunity to choose a common reason for the answer and to update the comment currently applied to that question.
To edit either without changing the underlying answer, select the same answer from the dropdown and you’ll be able to make changes.
Selecting Dependencies and Interested Parties
If your Project Admin has configured Dependencies or Interested Parties for you to choose from then you will see those sections under the Refinement Questions in the right pane of the Klar app.
When you click on the pencil icon you are able to choose one or more pre-configured options.
When you click SAVE you’ll see your selections.
The images here show Dependencies. The Interested Parties area works in the same way. Click the pencil to edit whenever you learn more.
What’s next?
Once you’ve refined your Jira issues, check out more about how your actions populate issue fields and what that enables you to do: