Project Planning and Estimation with User Stories

Once Upon a Time,
there was a Requirement.
Project
Planning & Estimation
with User Stories
Deb Cinkus, PMP
CEO of Polished Geek

Milton C. Shedd
Co-founder of SeaWorld, San Diego
In 1961, when the then “fantastical” SeaWorld was proposed:
•Only scuba divers had seen deep under the ocean
•Neither Flippernor The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteauwere on TV yet
•No one knew if whales could even be trained

While there are many reasons why
Milton Shedd & his team
wonthe San Diego
marine park project,
beating out local entrepreneurs,
contained a story.
only Shedd’s proposal

Great stories happen to those who can tell them.
~ Ira Glas

Disclaimer
Much of the following content is based on Agile, but it’s not “true” Agile.
To use this technique:
•You don’thave to use Agile
•You don’thave to be a developer
•You don’teven have to know what Agile is.

Every great story starts at the beginning.
Quotes & proposals
Identifying product features
High level project planning
Uncovering unspoken expectations

Why
Focus on WHY, not What
Common language & goals
Understandable & relatable
Negotiable
User Stories?

As a <user>,
I want to <something>
so that <goal>.
What
is a User Story?

As a <user>,
I want to <something>
so that <goal>.
As a frequent
business traveler,
I want to book a flight
so that I can minimize my overall travel time.

User Stories
User Stories
Requirements &Specs
First person viewpoint
Impersonal or abstract
Encourageconversation
Demanddocumentation
Open tocreativity
Exact & precise
Independentlyunderstood
Requirelots of context

User Stories Generate Conversations
Who will use the box?
What do they plan to do with it?
Why do they need it?

Epics
High level feature summaries, which include many smaller Stories
Epic
User
Story
User
Story
User
Story
User
Story
User
Story
User
Story

Example project for today
Replace a static PDF download:
With a “Joomla Cart Advisor” component

Joomla Cart Advisor ( JCA )
1.A frontend series of questions to determine the best Joomla eCommerce extension(s) that match specific needs. [Wizard/Quiz Frontend]
2.Awell organized report explaining which cart(s) were the best match, and why. [Custom Report]
3.Backend admin access for quiz questions, along source data. [Internal Administration]

“The application will display a progress bar to the user.”
Which means you’ll probably get…

vs.
“As a Store Owner, I want to understand where I am in the process while using the tool.”
How are these different?
What’s still missing?

Even better
“As a Store Owner, I want to understand where I am in the process while using the toolso I can stop as soon as the best cart for me is obvious.”
KnowingWhy
changes everything.

“As a Store Owner, I want to understand where I am in the process while using the toolso I can stop as soon as the best cart for me is obvious.”

vs.
“As a Store Owner, I want to understand where I am in the process while using the tool.”
or even better
“As a Store Owner, I want to understand where I am in the process while using the toolso I can stop as soon as the best cart for me is clear.”

Quote Process
with User Stories
1.Identify user roles
2.Create (& discuss) epics & user stories
3.Estimate stories
4.Quote the epics

Joomla Cart Advisor example users:
1.Store owners
2.Web professionals
3.Polished Geek admin
4.Joomla eCommerce explorers
5.Third party extension vendors
6.Cart vendors
7.Other?
#1 Identify user roles

1.Store owners
2.Web professionals
4.Joomla eCommerce explorers
5.Third party extension vendors
6.Cart vendors
7.Other?
Prioritize user roles

1.Store owners (web professionals proxies for these)
3.Cart vendors
Finalize user roles
Focus on user roles most vitalto the success of the project

Once you have written a set of Epics and User Stories based on what the Client has told you, it’s time to discuss them.
Always find out why
Ask open ended questions
“Tell me how you imagine this working?”
#2Create & Discuss
User Stories

What’s a good Story size?
EPIC
Story
Task
2+ weeks
1 day –
2 weeks
< 1 day

Inspired by Agile Planning Poker concept, but withoutstory points
Usable by anyone
Recognizes that estimating is HARD
Leverages team wisdom
Avoids over-analyzing
Gives room for uncertainty
#3Estimate Stories

Planning Poker
Uses a sequence of estimates that recognize the biggersomething is, the less certainit is.
Get planning poker cards from MountainGoatSoftware.com

Everything
in the world takes
Mad About You, episode 1.2
Fourhours.

For quoting proposals & high level estimates, we use:
½
Day
2
Weeks
3
Days
1
Day
1
Week

Plan it.
Talk about it.
Design it.
Do it.
Fix it.
Test it.
Demo it.
Document it.
Include
it.

#4 Quote the Epics
Provide Client $ quotes at the Epiclevel
Add up all of the User Stories in each Epic to get a total for that set of features & functions.

Epics & User Stories in a Proposal
A) Most important User role / persona first (role vital to success)
1.Then Epic Onewith short paragraph. To do this, the <User role> wants to:
1.Individual Story(include why, unless it’s obvious)
2.Story
3.Story
4.Story
2.Next Epic Two with short paragraph.
1.Story
2.Story
B) Second most important User roledescription. Describe this role and any important ways in how it differs from (A)
1.Then Epic One with short paragraph. To do this, the <User role> wants to:
1.Individual Story
2.Etc.
(see appendix for sample)

A)Store Owner Persona
Bill Sweetz is a Store Owner who currently uses Joomla 1.5 and VirtueMart 1.1. He wants to upgrade to Joomla 3, but is overwhelmed by all the new choices since his site was built several years ago. Like most Store Owners, Bill is extremely busy and wants to save time by narrowing down the list of potential Joomla 3 shopping carts quickly.
User role
Example of a Proposal with User Stories

1.The Joomla Cart Advisor (JCA) will provide an easy to use Q&A “quiz” that walks Bill the Store Owner through a series of questions about what features he needs. The JCA will allow Store Owners to:
1.Only answer questions that pertain to their situation
2.Understand where they are in the Quiz (% complete)
3.See real time feedback on the Cart Match results
4.Pause & save their responses to resume later (requires registration)
User role
Epic
-Story
-Story
-Story

1.The Joomla Cart Advisor (JCA) will provide an easy to use Q&A “quiz” that walks Bill the Store Owner through a series of questions about what features he needs. The JCA will allow Store Owners to:
1.Only answer questions that pertain to their situation
2.Understand where they are in the Quiz (% complete)
3.See real time feedback on the Cart Match results
4.Pause & save their responses to resume later (requires registration)
2.The JCA results will include a custom report (PDF) displaying best cart matches. This report will include:
1.A prioritized list of carts that best match the Store Owner responses
2.Etc…
User role
Epic
-Story
-Story
-Story
Epic
-Story
-Etc.

It’s weird.
“Burgushi” -Cowfish Grill Restaurants

Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragonscan be beaten.
~ G. K. Chesterton

Deb Cinkus,CEO
THE POLISH
deb@PolishedGeek.com
PolishedGeek.com @PolishedGeek
Donald Champion,CTO
THE GEEK
donald@PolishedGeek.com
Slides available online
https://PolishedGeek.com/userstories
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