Iterative Planning http://flic.kr/p/pVmSx

What are you going to learn about today? Agile planning practices Simple estimation technique Simple practice for tracking progress http://flic.kr/p/8JpkTg

Recall: Iterative development process We are here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Iterative_development_model_V2.jpg Note that planning and requirements don’t necessarily happen one right after the other

For those following along in the book… http://flic.kr/p/anWc2v For those following along in the book… Larman doesn’t really cover practical planning, so I’m going to draw from some other sources

OK. So you have some UCs, What’s next OK. So you have some UCs, What’s next? For an answer, read the excerpt “Weekly Cycle” from Beck (2005). http://flic.kr/p/9ksxQa

OK. So you have some UCs, What’s next? In a nutshell: Estimate how much work each UC will be and choose some to build in the next iteration http://flic.kr/p/9ksxQa

Agile estimation practice: Planning poker Let’s watch this video to find out what planning poker is all about: http://youtu.be/0FbnCWWg_NY But first, a quick word about…

The nebulous unit of work A unit is defined in terms of how much work you can get done in the next iteration To start with, typically defined as something like 1/20th of what the team can accomplish This is after taking into account the fact that programming might occur in pairs So an 8-person team might have 4 pairs, each of which might be able to get 5 units done Some team members might be able to do more units than others

OK. Now let’s watch the video: http://youtu.be/0FbnCWWg_NY

Recap: Estimation with planning poker Based on the “wisdom of the crowd” Idea: More opinions produce better accuracy Cards with units of work: 1, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40 Assume that 20 units is what the whole team can do in a single iteration Rules: For each UC… Discuss work involved Flip cards Repeat until consensus Efficiency in estimating is important Don’t expect your estimates to be super accurate

Why do estimation as a card game? http://flic.kr/p/9ksxQa

Why do estimation as a card game? Everyone’s opinion is important. Having everyone flip cards at the same time assures that everyone’s opinion is on the table. http://flic.kr/p/9ksxQa

How do you use these rough estimates? http://flic.kr/p/9ksxQa

How do you use these rough estimates? Provide client an idea of the cost of implementing each UC He/she already knows the value Then, the client can prioritize Based on the prioritization, you break the UCs into tasks and assign the work May involve more detailed estimates on a few UCs/tasks http://flic.kr/p/9ksxQa

Why is efficiency in planning poker important? http://flic.kr/p/9ksxQa

Why is efficiency in planning poker important? Even with the wisdom of the crowd, your estimates still won’t be super precise No sense wasting a lot of time on estimation http://flic.kr/p/9ksxQa

Some additional estimation principles Engineers give honest estimates that customers can trust. Engineers refine estimates; customers refine expectations. It is expected that you will work at a sustainable pace. No heroes, no all-nighters, no super-human feats Either you get the code done like a human being, or you don’t

Activity for next class(?): Planning poker http://flic.kr/p/5dfuqL Activity for next class(?): Planning poker Get together with your teammates Pool and sort your UCs so you have a complete set Play planning poker for each UC At the end, we’ll compare outcomes and consider some questions

Another agile practice: Informative workspace Read the handout (Beck 2005), and we will discuss (esp. what we can do in this course)

Popular practice: Kanban board http://flic.kr/p/7NQz4b

Here’s another example… http://flic.kr/p/7xD6wF

And another… http://flic.kr/p/4Q8hdr

How do you think we should approximate an informative workspace in this course? http://flic.kr/p/9ksxQa http://flic.kr/p/4Q8hdr http://flic.kr/p/7NQz4b

Activity for next Wednesday: Planning an iteration http://flic.kr/p/5dfuqL Activity for next Wednesday: Planning an iteration I will prioritize your UCs See how many of the UCs your team can do in an iteration, favoring higher priority UCs over lower For each UC that your team will do, break it into subtasks Assign each subtask to a person and give a time estimate in hours Use informal visual/spatial layout tricks to capture dependencies

Summary Estimation with planning poker Informative workspaces http://flic.kr/p/YSY3X Summary Estimation with planning poker Informative workspaces Progress tracking with Kanban boards