Amber Hunt - Sprint 2 - Paper 2 - Estimating an Agile Project

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.1  INTRODUCTION

1.2  STARTING WITH USER ROLES

1.3  CREATING USER STORIES

1.4  WRITING EFFECTIVE STORIES

1.5  GROUPING WITH THEMES OF EPICS

1.6  CONCLUSION

**1.1 INTRODUCTION**
     Estimating in Agile can be frustrating.  One may think it is just about assigning a
time the project would be completed.
Well, it is not that simple.  With
estimating in Agile, user roles and user stories must be created, as well as
creating, writing, and grouping those stories.
These stories lead into the planning phase of the project which leads
into something else.  It is basically a
waterfall effect.

**1.2 STARTING WITH USER ROLES**
          The product owner usually
assigns user roles.  It makes it easier
to focus-on the users experience rather than what goes into creating it.  They do it based on their view of the
product.  It makes the estimate phase
relatively easy and simple.  This role is
not to be confused as one person.  It is to
be thought of as roles that the product owner assigns to make.  For example, Customers or Visitors to a
website can be user roles. (Lynda.com - from LinkedIn,

**1.3 CREATING USER**
STORIES

          User Stories are short stories
created for the user.  It is used to find
out what interests the user about the product.
According to Doug Rose from Lynda.com, a user story is a conversation
vehicle.  The user story must be able to
do two things such as, operate the client’s language and add business value.  To operate in the client’s language, you must
be able to answer the questions of why and what?  The developers worry about the how.  Do not stress on the dynamics of what the
story is about, but rather, what it does not say.  The product manager must make sure that
he/she is not swimming in the developer’s pool. (Lynda.com
- from LinkedIn, 2017) To be successful, one must use the three C’s come
in.  Conversation, Confirmation, and
Card.  These are good ways to record the
user stories.

**1.4 WRITING**
EFFECTIVE STORIES
          Writing user stories is a good
way for the product owner and the developers to communicate.  To get great results from writing user
stories, one must use INVEST.  It stands
for Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Sized-Appropriately, and
Testable.  Follow these steps and the
stories should be very easy. (Lynda.com - from LinkedIn,

**1.5 GROUPING WITH**
THEMES OF EPICS

Epics or themes are great ways to group
stories.  Epics are said to be created
after the stories.  It is a great way to
get identical stories into the correct spot.
Using FEEDBACK, an acronym to help with grouping in Agile helps as well.  It stands for Flow, Effort, Entry, Data,
Business rules, Alternatives, Complexity, and K is for Knowledge. (Lynda.com - from LinkedIn, 2017)

**1.6 CONCLUSION**

In conclusion, estimating in Agile
does not have to be as hard or frustrating as many make it out to be.  It can be easy and straightforward if those
steps are followed.  All one must do is
assign user roles and stories, create, write, and group them then everything
else will fall into place.  It is just a
process that leads into another that can be done without the headache.

Citation

Lynda.com - from LinkedIn. (2017). *Creating user stories*.
[online] Available at:
https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Creating-user-stories/175074/387213-4.html

[Accessed 9 Nov. 2017].

Lynda.com - from LinkedIn. (2017). *Grouping with themes or epics*.
[online] Available at: https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Grouping-themes-epics/175074/387215-4.html
[Accessed 10 Nov. 2017].

Lynda.com - from LinkedIn. (2017). *Starting with user*
roles*. [online] Available at: https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Starting-user-roles/175074/387212-4.html*

[Accessed 9 Nov. 2017].

Lynda.com - from LinkedIn. (2017). *Writing effective stories*.
[online] Available at:
https://www.lynda.com/Business-Skills-tutorials/Writing-effective-stories/175074/387214-4.html
[Accessed 10 Nov. 2017].