Agile Business Change Blog Thoughts on Agile Strategic Business Change and Agile Delivery

15

OCT

Agile Estimation Plus?

15 OCT 2012 | Posted in agile estimating, t-shirt sizing | Author Stan Wade | 1 Comment

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I was helping out at the IndigoBlue stand at the Agile Business Conference last week and we were giving away some our new story estimation cards. Nothing special there I hear you say, we get cards from any number of places already. The difference was we have created some cards that are a little different. Different enough to spark some great discussions with delegates.

Firstly, there are two packs. One with T-shirt sizes and one with number. I am personally not a great fan of T-shirt sizes but some of my colleagues use them successfully all the time, so it’s great to have a pack specifically supporting this. Now I have a few packs I may well give it a go and see if I can get some of the quick win benefits my colleagues get.

What I am more interested in is the points cards. We have moved a little from the standard Fibonacci sequence that standard packs give. But that sequence works well doesn’t it? Yes it does and we support all the lower number upto and including 20, which I know isn’t part of the series, which should be 21, but it’s a common card in existing packs.  What we have done is add more high numbers. Instead of the standard 20,40,100, we have 20,30,50,80,130 and 200. Why? Well it’s because we still need some form of estimating process for epics and big stories or we end up not knowing the size of the project and thus have no idea if it’s initially feasible.

I haven’t used them yet, but I am looking forward to trying the new range out and seeing how they work.