effective
story slicing
Neil Killick, Agile Coach / Trainer
neilkillick.com / iterative.com.au
Copyright Neil Killick, Iterative, 2014
neil_killick

Why slice stories

Here’s why

Slicing creates options and
exposes goals from solutions

Why should we make
explicit slicing policies?
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Better definition of “ready” and “done”
Measure cycle times for work types
We can inspect and adapt policies
Try and reduce instance of outliers

Shared definitions of work
types are important
“Theme”
User
registration
“Feature”
Forgotten
password
“Story”
Email user

Slice by
Acceptance Criteria
● Given Bob is a registered user,
When Bob logs in
Then he should be logged in.
● Given Bob is logged in,
When Bob chooses Profile
Then he should see his profile.

Each user scenario is
its own story

Keep vertically slicing (user
end-to-end functionality)

Workflow steps

Variation in business rules

Happy/unhappy flow

Input options/platform

Data types/parameters

CRUD operations

Test scenarios

Roles/personas

Other ways to slice
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“Implement the 1st X, then the rest”
Delay performance considerations
Delay UI considerations
Look for “and”, “or” in scenarios
Browser compatibility
Usability

Hamburger Method

Step 1 - Identify tasks
● Story: Contact
dormant customers by
email
● Accomplishing all
tasks would meet goal
of story
Lettuce
V
e
r
t
i
c
a
l
s
l
i
c
e
Tomato
Burger
Onions
Tomato sauce

Step 2 - Identify options

Step 3 - Trim the burger
options

Trimmed, ready for 1st bite

Step 4 - Take the 1st bite

Each bite is a story the PO
may or may not want done
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Keep taking a bite until “good enough”
Iterative = Be open to rework
Horizontal slices don’t deliver value
Conversations with the PO are key
○ Communicate technical risk
○ Focus on early value delivery

Group Activity
Make your own burger!
● Story: I want customers to be able to buy my
artwork from my website
● Use the Hamburger Method to slice this story
● You have 15 mins to:
○ Identify 5 or 6 tasks/stories
○ Identify options for each in order of quality

Neil Killick, Agile Coach / Trainer
neilkillick.com / iterative.com.au
Copyright Neil Killick, Iterative, 2013
neil_killick

References
● 8 useful strategies for splitting large user stories
(and a cheat sheet) - http://bit.ly/1jrdWOY
● Splitting user stories: the hamburger method http://bit.ly/1eL8HHW
● Splitting user stories by the quality of the
solution - http://bit.ly/1ejFRZ3