15 Kanban Board Examples for Every Team and Use Case

Why Kanban Board Structure Matters

A Kanban board is only as good as its column structure. Get the columns right and work flows naturally. Get them wrong and you end up with a cluttered board that nobody trusts.

The column structure should mirror how your team actually works. Here are 15 Kanban board examples for specific teams and use cases. Use them as starting points and adapt to your reality.

General-Purpose Kanban Boards

1. The Standard 5-Column Board

Best for: Most teams getting started with Kanban.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Backlog	Captured ideas and requests not yet prioritized	”Redesign onboarding flow,” “Fix login timeout bug”
To Do	Prioritized and ready to be picked up	”Add export to CSV feature,” “Update API docs”
In Progress	Actively being worked on	”Build user settings page,” “Write Q1 blog post”
Test/Review	Waiting for review, QA, or approval	”Review PR #142,” “QA the checkout flow”
Complete	Done and verified	”Deploy v2.3,” “Publish case study”

This is the structure Sagan Orbit uses. The Backlog and To Do split prevents the common problem of a single overloaded column where prioritized work gets buried under brainstormed ideas.

WIP limits suggestion: 2 per person in “In Progress,” 3-5 total in “Test/Review.”

2. The Minimal 3-Column Board

Best for: Solo users, personal task tracking, very small projects.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
To Do	Everything that needs to be done	”Grocery shopping,” “Call dentist,” “Read chapter 5”
Doing	Currently working on	”Write proposal,” “Fix bike tire”
Done	Completed	”Submit tax return,” “Update resume”

The simplest possible Kanban board. If you are the only contributor, this is all you need. Add columns as your needs grow.

WIP limit suggestion: 3 items in “Doing.”

3. The Priority-Lane Board

Best for: Teams handling mixed workloads with varying urgency.

This board uses horizontal swimlanes in addition to columns:

Lane / Column	Backlog	In Progress	Review	Done
Urgent	Critical bug reports	Emergency fixes	Hotfix reviews	Deployed fixes
Standard	Feature requests	Feature development	Code review	Released features
Low Priority	Nice-to-haves	Cleanup tasks	Documentation review	Archived

Swimlanes separate work by priority so urgent items are always visible at the top.

WIP limit suggestion: 1-2 items in “Urgent / In Progress,” 3-4 in “Standard / In Progress.”

Software Development Boards

4. The Sprint-Style Development Board

Best for: Development teams that combine Kanban visualization with iteration-based planning.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Sprint Backlog	Committed work for this iteration	”FEAT-201: User profile page”
In Development	Code being written	”FEAT-198: Payment integration”
Code Review	Pull requests awaiting review	”PR #312: Add search filters”
QA/Testing	Being tested by QA or automated tests	”FEAT-198: Payment integration - QA”
Staging	Deployed to staging, awaiting approval	”v2.4 release candidate”
Released	Deployed to production	”v2.3.1 hotfix”

Separating “Code Review” from “QA/Testing” is important because they involve different people and different types of work.

WIP limit suggestion: 1 item per developer in “In Development,” no limit on “Code Review” (but track age).

5. The Bug Tracking Board

Best for: QA teams, support teams, or any team managing a queue of bugs.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Reported	New bugs awaiting triage	”Login fails on Safari 18,” “Cart total wrong with discount”
Triaged	Bugs assessed for severity and assigned	”P1: Payment timeout on mobile”
Reproducing	Developer is confirming the bug	”Reproducing: File upload crash”
Fixing	Fix is being implemented	”Fix: Null pointer in user service”
Verifying	QA confirms the fix works	”Verify: Login fix on Safari 18”
Closed	Bug is fixed and verified	”Fixed: Cart calculation error”

The “Reproducing” column is key. Many bugs cannot be fixed until reliably reproduced, and this step is often the bottleneck.

WIP limit suggestion: 2 per developer in “Fixing,” unlimited in “Reported” (it is an intake queue).

6. The DevOps/Infrastructure Board

Best for: Platform teams, SRE teams, infrastructure engineers.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Requests	Infrastructure requests from other teams	”Scale API servers for Black Friday”
Evaluating	Assessing feasibility, cost, and approach	”Evaluate: Migrate to ARM instances”
Implementing	Changes being made	”Upgrade Kubernetes to 1.29”
Testing	Validation in non-production environment	”Load test new cache layer”
Rollout	Gradual production deployment	”Canary deploy: New CDN config”
Monitoring	Deployed but under observation	”Monitor: Database migration (48h)“
Complete	Stable in production	”Completed: Redis cluster upgrade”

The “Monitoring” column is unique to infrastructure work. It ensures the team watches for problems after a change goes live, since issues often appear only under real-world load.

WIP limit suggestion: 2 in “Implementing,” 1 in “Rollout” (to avoid cascading failures).

Marketing and Content Boards

7. The Content Production Board

Best for: Content marketing teams, editorial teams, blog management.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Ideas	Topic ideas and pitches	”Guide: Kanban for remote teams”
Researching	Gathering data, interviews, sources	”Research: PM tool market share 2026”
Writing	Draft being written	”Draft: 10 Best Kanban Tools”
Editing	Review for quality, accuracy, SEO	”Edit: Project Management for Startups”
Design	Graphics, images, formatting	”Create header image: Kanban Guide”
Scheduled	Ready and scheduled for publication	”Publish March 20: Tool Comparison”
Published	Live on the site	”Published: What is Kanban?”

The key insight is separating “Writing,” “Editing,” and “Design” because these are done by different people. Combining them hides where content is actually stuck.

WIP limit suggestion: 2 per writer in “Writing,” 3-4 total in “Editing.”

8. The Marketing Campaign Board

Best for: Marketing teams running multi-channel campaigns.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Campaign Ideas	Proposed campaigns	”Q2 product launch campaign”
Planning	Strategy, audience, channels, budget	”Plan: Summer webinar series”
Asset Creation	Designing and writing campaign materials	”Write email sequence (5 emails)“
Review/Approval	Stakeholder or legal review	”Legal review: Contest T&C”
Ready to Launch	Assets approved, channels configured	”Load ads into Google Ads”
Live	Campaign actively running	”Monitor: LinkedIn ad set A/B test”
Analysis	Campaign complete, analyzing results	”Report: Email campaign ROI”

The “Review/Approval” column is critical because stakeholder bottlenecks are the number one cause of campaign delays.

WIP limit suggestion: 2 campaigns in “Asset Creation,” 1 in “Review/Approval” to force decision-making.

9. The Social Media Board

Best for: Social media managers, community teams.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Content Bank	Approved ideas ready to be created	”Tip: 5 Kanban mistakes to avoid”
Creating	Content being produced	”Design Instagram carousel: PM tips”
Scheduled	Queued in scheduling tool	”Twitter thread: Kanban vs Scrum (Tues 9am)“
Published	Live on platform	”LinkedIn post: Tool comparison”
Engaged	Actively monitoring comments/replies	”Respond to comments on YouTube video”

The “Engaged” column prevents the common trap of publishing content and never following up on comments and replies.

WIP limit suggestion: 5 items in “Creating,” unlimited in “Content Bank.”

HR and Operations Boards

10. The Hiring Pipeline Board

Best for: HR teams, hiring managers, recruitment.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Open Roles	Approved positions to fill	”Senior Backend Engineer”
Sourcing	Actively searching for candidates	”Source: UX Designer (LinkedIn, referrals)“
Screening	Reviewing applications and resumes	”Screen 12 applicants: PM role”
Interviewing	Candidates in interview process	”Interview: Jane Smith (Round 2)“
Offer	Extending an offer	”Offer: John Doe - $120K + equity”
Hired	Offer accepted, start date confirmed	”Hired: Jane Smith (starts April 1)”

Each card represents a role, not a candidate. Candidate details live within the card as subtasks or comments.

WIP limit suggestion: 3-4 roles in “Interviewing” (each interview takes time and energy).

11. The Employee Onboarding Board

Best for: HR teams, managers onboarding new hires.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Pre-Arrival	Tasks before the new hire starts	”Order laptop,” “Set up email account”
Day 1	First day tasks	”Office tour,” “Meet the team,” “Set up dev environment”
Week 1	First week goals	”Complete security training,” “Read product docs”
Month 1	First month milestones	”Ship first feature,” “1:1 with manager”
Ongoing	Continuing development	”Shadow senior engineer,” “Complete mentorship program”
Complete	Onboarding finished	”Onboarding review: satisfactory”

Each new hire gets their own copy of this board, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

WIP limit suggestion: Not applicable. Each card is time-bound rather than flow-based.

Sales and Client-Facing Boards

12. The Sales Pipeline Board

Best for: Sales teams, account executives, business development.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Leads	New contacts identified	”Acme Corp - inbound demo request”
Qualified	Confirmed budget, authority, need, timing	”TechStart Inc - $50K ARR potential”
Proposal	Proposal or quote sent	”Proposal sent: Acme Corp (March 5)“
Negotiation	Terms being discussed	”Acme Corp: Negotiating payment terms”
Closed Won	Deal signed	”Signed: TechStart Inc - $48K ARR”
Closed Lost	Deal did not happen	”Lost: BigCo - went with competitor”

A Kanban view of the sales pipeline adds visual clarity that CRM tables lack. You can instantly see pipeline health and whether deals are stacking up in negotiation.

WIP limit suggestion: If “Negotiation” has more than 5 deals, some need to be pushed to resolution.

13. The Client Project Board

Best for: Agencies, consultancies, freelancers managing client deliverables.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Client Requests	New requests from clients	”Acme: Add testimonials page”
Scoping	Defining requirements and estimate	”Scope: TechStart redesign (40h est.)”
In Progress	Work actively being done	”Build: Acme testimonials page”
Client Review	Deliverable sent to client for feedback	”Review: TechStart homepage mockup”
Revisions	Implementing client feedback	”Revisions: Acme - adjust hero section”
Approved	Client has signed off	”Approved: TechStart homepage”
Invoiced	Work billed	”Invoiced: Acme March deliverables”

The “Client Review” and “Revisions” columns are essential because client feedback cycles are often the longest part of any project. Tools like Sagan Orbit support workspace-based organization, letting each client have their own workspace with separate projects.

WIP limit suggestion: 3-4 items in “In Progress” per team member, 2-3 in “Client Review” per client.

Personal and Specialty Boards

14. The Personal Productivity Board

Best for: Individual contributors, freelancers, personal goal tracking.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Inbox	Captured tasks and ideas (unsorted)	“Research tax deductions,” “Call plumber”
This Week	Prioritized for the current week	”Finish client proposal,” “Gym 3x”
Today	Committed to completing today	”Write blog draft,” “Grocery shopping”
Waiting	Blocked on someone else	”Waiting: Client feedback on mockup”
Done	Completed	”Filed taxes,” “Submitted proposal”

The “Waiting” column captures tasks that are out of your hands, keeping them visible without cluttering active columns. The “Inbox” to “This Week” to “Today” flow creates a natural planning cadence: capture everything, promote weekly, select daily.

WIP limit suggestion: 3 items in “Today” (be honest about what you can actually finish), 7-10 in “This Week.”

15. The Product Roadmap Board

Best for: Product managers, founders, product teams planning features.

Column	Purpose	Example Cards
Discovery	Ideas being explored and validated	”User research: Mobile app demand”
Defining	Requirements and specs being written	”Spec: Team permissions system”
Designing	UX/UI design in progress	”Design: New dashboard layout”
Building	Engineering is implementing	”Build: Real-time notifications”
Beta	Released to beta users for feedback	”Beta: File attachment feature”
GA	Generally available to all users	”GA: Multi-language support”

This board works at the feature level, not the task level. Tasks within each feature are tracked on a separate operational board (like Example 1).

WIP limit suggestion: 2-3 items in “Building” (focus engineering on finishing features, not starting them).

Tips for Designing Your Own Board

If none of these examples fit exactly, design your own using these principles:

• Mirror your real workflow, not an ideal one. If legal review is a bottleneck, make it a column.
• Keep it under 7 columns. More than that becomes noisy and hard to scan.
• Always include a Backlog and Done column. The Backlog prevents prioritized columns from becoming dump sites. Done provides a record of accomplishment.
• Make your bottleneck visible. Every team has a stage where work piles up. That stage deserves its own column so you can manage it.

Getting Started

Pick the example closest to your team’s work, create the columns, and start adding cards. Do not overthink it. Use it for two weeks, then adjust.

If you want a structured starting point, Sagan Orbit’s 5-column board (Example 1) works for most teams out of the box. You can sign up for free and have a working board in minutes. The board structure evolves as your team learns what works. The important thing is to start, observe, and iterate.