This document discusses estimating story points for agile software development projects. It notes that estimating time is difficult and imprecise, but that comparing the relative complexity of stories to each other using story points is more effective. Planning poker is introduced as a technique for teams to discuss and estimate story points. The concept of velocity, or the number of story points a team can complete in a sprint, is explained as a way to plan future work. Various challenges of estimating such as calibrating after team changes or accounting for different skills are addressed. The document concludes by emphasizing that estimating effort rather than hours allows for more flexible planning.

1. Discovering story points

2. @nadiazemskova

3. Estimates take time
…and they are never precise

4. Why estimate?

5. First there were hours

6. Hours are dependent on individual

7. Hours are dependent on specialty

8. Hours are translated into duration

9. Brook’s law

10. Wishful thinking

11. People are bad at estimating time

12. People are good at comparison

13. 5
3
2
1
Compare these buildings

14. User story
1 2

15. Story point
Effort Complexity
Uncertainty

16. Planning poker

17. Velocity
25
20
15
10
5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

18. Time-based planning
Will have
3 x 15 = 45 points
3 x 20 = 60 points
Might have
Won’t have

19. Scope based planning
200
Finish here
160 with our best
velocity
120
80
40
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

20. 1. How many hours are in a story point?

21. It’s a distribution

22. 2. How to estimate cost?

23. 6 .. 8 x =
..
It’s a range

24. 3. Whose points are bigger

25. Only for the same team

26. Beware of inflation

27. Establish common baseline

28. 4. How to calibrate team changes

29. Change of velocity
30
20
10
Team member
added
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

30. 5. How to manage the inflow

31. Burnup chart
160
120
80 Done
Scope
40
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

32. 6. How do you get started?

33. This is a “2”

35. 7. Why are we back to hours?

36. These areare
These different
kind of estimates
different units

37. 8. What do you burn during sprint

38. Hours
Task count
Points

39. 9. What if you don’t have a team?

40. … plan an imaginary sprint

41. 10. What if you have different skills?

42. … velocity will help

43. … or different teams

44. Estimate effort, derive duration

45. nadezhda.zemskova@gmail.com
nadezhda.zemskova
@nadiazemskova
http://ua.linkedin.com/in/nadiazemskova