Agile Estimating & Planning Kane Mar Certified Scrum Coach and Trainer.

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Agenda About me. Traditional Estimating vs Agile Estimating Relative Estimates Context is Important Deriving Project Duration

About Me.

Tradition Estimating vs Agile Estimating KLoC Function Points Ideal Days Story Points

Relative Estimates Agile estimates are estimates made on a relative scale Here’s an example: Smarties in a glass

Relative Estimates Points are abstract representations of size, which includes complexity, effort etc. Scales currently used: Fibonacci Scale: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, Linear Scales: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 T-shirt sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL

Relatives Estimates Points do not have units Points are not related (easily) to hours or days What use are relative estimates if we don’t have a time or duration associated with them? How can we use an abstract concept to derive durations and timeframes?

Exercise: Relative Estimates We use an abstract concept to enable transactions for goods and services every single day. We define the value of a dollar (“fiat money”) by how much “stuff” we can buy with it

Exercise: Relative Estimates 1 litre of milk:

Exercise: Relative Estimates A loaf of bread:

Exercise: Relative Estimates A dozen eggs:

Exercise: Relative Estimates A desert:

Exercise: Relative Estimates This is a Runeberg Tart. It’s named after the Finnish national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg ( ) who, according to the legend, enjoyed the tart with punch

Context is important Context is important when estimating with relative sizing The relevance of a Point is very, very local Comparing points between teams has very little meaning (although it is possible with additional effort)

Exercise: Doggie Points Labrador retriever Chihuahua Great Dane German Shepherd Poodle St. Bernard Bulldog

Relative Estimates Estimating with Points is fast Points can be easy to explain and communicated They allow us to deal with ambiguity The whole team is involved with estimation

Project duration from Points Iteration 1 Iteration 2 Iteration 3 10 Pts 11 Pts 9 Pts 30 Pts

References “Agile Estimating and Planning”, Mike Cohn “User Stories Applied”, Mike Cohn

References “Agile Software Development with Scrum,” Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle, 2001 “Agile Project Management with Scrum”, Ken Schwaber “Scrum and the Enterprise”, Ken Schwaber “Scrum in 5 minutes”, Softhouse Nordic AB

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