Release Planning with User Stories

RELEASE PLANNING
WITH USER STORIES
Planning for Success

Introductions

conf ident !
conf ident !

Very
Not

Release Planning?!
How conf ident do

Using Value Drivers t o
you f eel about :!

maint ain product f ocus?!

Theming User St ories?!

Minimum Market able Feat ures
and Viable Product ?!

Set t ing Release Goals?!

Do you f eel t hat you will benef it f rom t his t raining? ! My name is… … … … … … … … … !
… … … … … … … … ...
My job t it le is… … … … … … … …
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I hav worked here f or… …
e … .. ! (days/ mnt hs/ yrs)

What I hope t o t ake away f rom
t oday’s course is… … … … … … …
… … .… … … … !
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……………
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I hav been working wit h
e
Ag met hods f or…
ile … !
!

1$ 2$ 3$ 4$ 5$$
year$ less$
or$ years$ years$ years$ years$ more$
or$

Years of experience in Agile

My name is… … … … … … … … … !
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My job t it le is… … … … … … … …
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My job t it le is… … … … … … … …
… … … … … … … .! My name is… … … … … … … … … !
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e … .. ! (days/ mnt hs/ yrs) My job t it le is… … … … … … … …
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… … .… … … … ! What I hope t o t ake away f rom
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…………… t oday’s course is… … … … … … …
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My name is… … … … … … … … … !
… … … … … … … … ... My name is… … … … … … … … … !
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My job t it le is… … … … … … … …
… … … … … … … .! My job t it le is… … … … … … … …
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… … … … … … … … ...
e … .. ! (days/ mnt hs/ yrs) I hav worked here f or… …
e … .. ! (days/ mnt hs/ yrs) My job t it le is… … … … … … … …
… … … … … … … .!

What I hope t o t ake away f rom What I hope t o t ake away f rom
… … .… … … … ! t oday’s course is… … … … … … …
… … .… … … … ! What I hope t o t ake away f rom
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……………
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In the context of Release
planning…

What puzzles you? What
challenges do
you have?

What action do What ideas
you want to take? do you
have?

Sprint& Daily&
scrum&
planning& and&daily&
mee9ng& work&

Preparation Release n
• Business'case'and'
funding'
• Contractual'agreement'
•
•
Vision'
Ini5al'product'backlog'
Update&
Product& Engineering
Process&
&Product&
Increment&
Backlog&
•
•
Ini5al'release'plan'
Stakeholder'buy<in' Practices
• Assemble'Team'

Product&
Backlog& Product&
Owner&

Sprint& &Sprint&
Product&
Impediment&
List&
Backlog& Retrospec9ve& Review&
Burndown&

Scrum& Users& Scrum&
Master&

Artefacts& Scrum&
Product&
Roles&
Backlog&
Delta& Sprint&
Backlog&
Report&

Team&
Sprint& Stakeholders& Members&
Backlog&
Burndown&

Copyright& Agility& Mind&
©& in& 2012&

Actions

Vision Reality
Decisions

Generatin Return on
Value
Vision ga Sizing Priority Investmen
Drivers
Backlog t

Risk
MMF and Setting
Theming Assessme Planning Reporting
MVP Goals
nt

Introducing the Product
 The BBC has
commissioned a
new weather app.
 The project has the
go-ahead.
 The requirements
have been captured
and written as user
stories.
 It’s your job to get a
delivery plan

Product Vision Statement

For
Who it’s for………………….. [defined market]
What it’s called…...………….[product]
is the only
What it does………………….[product category]
that offers
What makes it different………
[differentiator].
What it means to This means that
the customer or user…………..
[benefit].

Vision
For
[people who value spending time outdoors],
[The Mobile Weather App]
is the only
[Mobile Weather Application]
that offers
[a personalised and community based service].
This means that
[others in the community of the app user share the
experience and the BBC gains valuable feedback on
usage and lifestyles].

Value Drivers

Definition of value driver from
Finance
 something adding value to product or service
 an activity or organizational focus that
enhances the value of a product or service in
the perception of the consumer and which
therefore creates value for the producer.

I want a Trip to Australia
Things I don’t Value (Value
Things I Value (Value more)
less)

 The journey is the  Australia is a useful
most important thing target, but could be
 Take my time to visit somewhere else
places along the  Speed of getting
way there is not
 Staying with local important
people will allow me  Five star luxury is
to understand not
different cultures necessary, although

Example of unclear Value

Original name: Service Data Capture Project

Revised name: Beneficiary Relationship Management

Drivers: Remain aligned to capturing data

Result: Confusion. Some delivering a Case
Management System, some delivering a Data
Capture System. Wasted effort. Conflict.
Overspend.

Value Drivers
For
 Exercise
[people who value spending time
 In two outdoors],
groups, discuss [The Mobile Weather App]
the Vision is the only

Statement and [Mobile Weather Application]
that offers
produce a list of
[a personalised and community based
things that are service].
“important” to the This means that
product. [others in the community of the app user
share the experience and the BBC
 Prioritise and gains valuable feedback on usage
select the top and lifestyles].

Backlogs & Roadmaps
What is the difference between a backlog
and a roadmap?

Backlogs & Roadmaps
Product Manager & Head Of

Senior
Team & Project Manager
Managers

Roadmap Epic or Epic or Epic or
Item Requirement Requirement Requirement

Roadmap Epic or Epic or Epic or Epic or Epic or
Item Requirement Requirement Requirement RequirementRequirement

Roadmap Epic or Epic or
Item Requirement Requirement

Roadmap Epic or Epic or Epic or Epic or
Item Requirement Requirement Requirement Requirement

Why a backlog?
 Helps you arrange your work
 Increases visibility
 Gives the project a focal point
 Lets you see what you’ve got
 Allows you to look ahead at what is coming
 Is the project on a page
 Basis of basic project metrics

Planning by using a backlog
Iteration 1 Plan Iteration 2 Plan Iteration 3 Plan Backlog
Iteration Iteration Iteration
One Two n
Priority 1 Priority 5
Priority 1 Priority 1 Priority 1
Size 2 Size 1 Size 4
Priority 2 Priority 2 Priority 2
Size 4 Size 8 Size 3
Size 3 Size 3
Priority 4 Priority n
Velocity = 9 Velocity = 9 Velocity = 10

Introducing the Backlog
User Stories

Understanding what’ in there
s
 Review the set of Stories

 What can we use to understand and order the
stories as given

 Use priority ordering, based on the vision and
value drivers already identified

 Lay the stories out in one list, higherst priority
at the top

What do we mean by Sizing?
 Working out the relative complexity of different
User Stories.
 Most commonly done using Affinity Sizing or
Planning Poker.
 Best done in a group, by the team.
 They are estimates.

What do we mean by priority?
 We need to be organised about what we do.
 Value to the customer should be a key
consideration.
 Needn’t be fixed, but needs to be more stable
the closer it comes to development.

 What else can we prioritise by?

What is story theming?
 A collection of User Stories, a useful group
which we want to use to help plan and deliver
 Going through the process of theming helps to
clarify what you have and what is missing
 Themes can become the basis of planning or
just inform the process
 The important element is having the
conversations driven by themes

Approaches for Theming Stories
 Simplicity
 Do the simplest thing you could possibly work first and get it working end to
end. You have always got something to demonstrate. If that’s still too big then
.....
 By User or Persona
 Try focussing on a subset of users or a single user, start with the most valuable.
 Select the Persona who provides maximum coverage or who provides the
greatest challenge (or risk).
 Process
 Pick the “Happy Path” first, the path that is taken the majority of the time. Add
the edge cases and exceptions as you go, be prepared to look at alternatives if
you run out of time or budget.
 Data Set
 Limit the data set that you apply the functionality to, add others as you build
and learn from the first. For example: Customers in a CRM.
 By Feature
 Arrange by groups of stories against a Feature and work out minimal builds….

Exercise
 In groups, look at the set of stories
 First of all, what possibilities are there for
grouping the stories
 Agree on one way and try it

 What does it tell you about the backlog?

Non-functional Requirements
 Constraints on the design
 Can have an impact on all or many of
functional user stories
 Making adjustments:
 Decompose the NFR into smaller requirements
and prioritise e.g. the order of platform
compatibility
 Cumulative effect – each iteration should still
maintain the NFR i.e. don’t drop it in later iteration
 Use definition of done and acceptance criteria to
maintain integrity of the NFR

Identifying NFRs
 Review the user stories for the application
 Identify which stories are non-functional.
 How are you going to manage their
implementation or challenge their existence?

Decide what Features are Required

For example

Group Stories to Minimal Sets
FEATURE 1 FEATURE 2 FEATURE 3 FEATURE 4 FEATURE 5

Group Stories to Minimal Sets

Minimal
Minimal Marketabl
Minimal Marketabl Minimal e Feature
Minimum Viable Release
Marketabl
e Feature
e Feature Marketabl
e Feature

Who uses MMF/MVPs?
 Who cares about MMF and MVP/MVR?

Risk Management
 Taking a risk-led view of the plan
 Can be performed pre- or post-planning
 What does the risk profile look like within the
plan?

High
Impact
Low

Low Probability High

Risk profile of project

100

3.5
70*40%=28
70 28
Impact

39

45

16 28

12.5

2.8

9
6
1.0
0

40%
0% 50% 100%

Probability

Risk score of project

35 2 1 5
Total risk score: 80
5 3 3

20 5 8 Total risk score: 175
1 6 9
12

30 12
3 15
3
4 11
2
5 15
10 20
1
10
5
18

18 10 9 8 Total risk score: 123
20 2
2 19 3

2 3
3 2 4

Risk Profile by Release
R2

R3
Total risk score

R1

Risk Burn-down by Release
Plan
Total risk score

Start R1 R2 R3
Complete Complete Complete

Risk Score

500
1000
1500
2000
2500

0
Sprint 1

Sprint 2

Sprint 3

Sprint 4

Sprint 5

Sprint 6

Sprint 7

Sprint 8

Sprint 9

Sprint 10

Sprint 11

Sprint 12

Sprint 13
Active Risk Burn-down

Sprint 14
Risk loaded
Risk managed

Exercise
 Draw a chart on a sheet, either as a risk zone
or risk matrix
 Place cards on sheet according to risk
 On front, colour code according to risk
category
 On back calculate risk score

Planning

What to do Also consider

 Lay your stories out  Vision
in the order you plan  Sprint Goals
to have them done.  Velocity
 Remember to check  Themes
your plans with your
Product Owner.  MMFs
 Value

Setting Release Goals
 A series of mini visions for the project
 Should tie in to the Project Vision
 Should be clear and concise
 Should be well communicated & understood
 Up on a wall
 Everyone knows what it is

Exercise: Give your releases a goal

What we can use for reporting
 Risk
 Return on Investment
 Story Points / Estimation
 MMFs
 MVPs
 Themes
 Business Value

Remember: it is better to collect the data and
then not use it than to not collect it then need

For more information please contact:

Andrew Jones
HelpMe@AgilityInMind.co.uk
07907 800 759
Agility in Mind Limited, 34 High Street, Market Lavington, Wiltshire SN10 4AG
United Kingdom
Registered in England and Wales: 7289974

COPYRIGHT © 2012 AGILITY IN MIND
LIMITED

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