Leading Change Through Collaboration Agile Project Management Leading

Leading Change Through Collaboration Agile Project Management

Leading Change Through Collaboration Pollyanna Pixton Founder, Accelinnova President, Evolutionary Systems Director Institute of Collaborative Leadership

Agenda § § What is Agile Methods Scrum Deep Dive Estimating and Planning § Getting Started § Leading Agile

What is agile?

“Find your joy in something finished, and not a thousand things begun. ” - Douglas Mallock

Project Methods § Waterfall: § Function Definition, Design, Build, Check Functions Design Build § New Methods: Check Done § Single Cycle Review and Adjust § Spiral: Multiple Cycles of Waterfall § Agile: Adapt As You Go: Short Iterations

What is Agile? From recognition and acceptance of increasing levels of unpredictability in our turbulent economy § A chaordic perspective § Collaborative values and principles § Barely sufficient methodology - Jim Highsmith

Agile Encourages Mid Course Corrections Zone of success Increasing Knowledge Planned Completion Planned Path Start Actual Path As Knowledge increases Leaders use iterations to guide project towards enhanced goal 8 Actual Completion

Business Driven – Faster & More Rewarding Breakeven Staged Releases Single Release Cost Self-Funding Profit Software by Numbers by Mark Denne and Jane Cleland-Huang Investment Time Agile projects have a break-even point earlier in time than a traditional waterfall project for applications of the same size. Agile projects are more flexible. Can be stopped or restructured without losing all value.

Agile Defined…

uses continuous stakeholder feedback

uses continuous stakeholder feedback principles end users partners insiders

…to deliver high quality, consumable working code/features

… through user stories

…and a series of short, stable, timeboxed iterations.

Agile Defined… Uses continuous stakeholder feedback to deliver high-quality, consumable code through user stories and a series of short, stable, time-boxed iterations.

What is Agile? § A development process that conforms to the values and principles of the Agile Alliance (agilealliance. org) § Originally for software development

Agile Manifesto While there is value in the items on the right we value the items on the left more. § Individuals and interactions over processes and tools § Working software over comprehensive documentation § Customer collaboration over contract negotiation § Responding to change over following a plan

Agile Overview Agile: § Iterative and Incremental to deliver working software § Light-Weight § Meets Changing Needs of Stakeholders § Highly Collaborative: Involves Customers § Minimizes Documentation § Test First

Example: Legacy Highway

Agile Principles

Light Weight § Utilize only practices that make sense for the project and environment § “Barely sufficient” artifacts, methodology, and documentation § “Appropriate” vs “Best Practices”

Practice Excellence § Requires self discipline to improved quality § Relies on the team to practice technical excellence instead of imposing discipline § Adopt technical practices that support the other practices such as: § Continuous Integration § Test Driven Development § Refactoring

Reflect and Adapt § Learn from past to improve performance § Retrospectives after each iteration § Harness change for improved efficiency § Multi-Horizon planning allows adaptation

Key Characteristics of Successful Agile Projects • • Short, Stable, Time-Boxed Iterations Stakeholder Feedback Self-Directed Teams Sustainable Pace

The Process Pendulum Code and Fix No Process Agile Empirical Waterfall Prescriptive Empirical Prescriptive § Frequent inspection § Collaboration § Adaptive responses § Defined set of steps to follow § Plan the work, work the plan § Plan is assumed to be correct

Project Methods Project Definition and Iterations Planning Review and Adjust Implement Done? NO YES Completed Deliverables § Envision § Iterate: § § Plan Implement Done? Adapt § Complete

Agile Cycles Vision Iterations Plan Iteration Planning Iteration Plan Review / Adapt Planning High Level Planning Develop Detailed Planning

How Does Agile Work? “Requirements” called features, defined using user stories: As a <user/role> … I want to <goal> … so that <value>. §

Agile ‘Process’ § User stories listed in a backlog. § Backlog prioritized based on value. § Highest priorities estimated and grouped into an iteration (sprint), two weeks long. § At end of iteration, ask if enough value to go to market? § Add any new user stories to backlog and reprioritize and select next iteration/sprint.

Agile ‘Process’ § Test cases are written first, before anything is developed § Go/no-go decisions reached early and often

Agile MUST be Disciplined Agile development necessitates greater discipline than traditional methods. “Quality” and “Consumability” must be real, not platitudes.

Project Management “It is a bad plan that admits to no modifications. ” -- Publius Syrus (ca. 42 BCE)

What is agile Summary

Agile Defined… Uses continuous stakeholder feedback to deliver high-quality, consumable code through user stories and a series of short, stable, time-boxed iterations.

References § What Is Agile Software Development? Jim Highsmith, Cross. Talk, the Journal of Defense Software Engineering § The New Methodology, Martin Fowler http: //martinfowler. com/articles § http: //www. agilealliance. com/articles § Why Agile (video) http: //www. universite-dusi. com/fr/conferences/6/sessions/909

User Stories Your Questions?

Project Management § Remove Obstacles Agile Methodologies

Agile Methods § e. Xtreme Programming, XP (Kent Beck, Ron Jeffries, Ward Cunningham) § Scrum (Jeff Sutherland, Ken Schwaber, Mike Beedle) § Feature Driven Development, FDD (Peter Coad, Jeff De. Luca) § Crystal Methods (Alistair Cockburn) § Dynamic Systems Development Method, DSDM (DSDM Consortium) § Lean Development (Bob Charette, Mary and Tom Poppendieck)

Agile Overview “Agile projects succeed when the team gets the spirit of agility. ” – Ron Jeffries, XP Thought Leader

e. Xtreme Programming

XP Values and Principles § § § Communication Simplicity Feedback Courage Quality Work

XP Practices § § § The Planning Game Small Releases Metaphor Simple Design Refactoring Test-First Development

XP Practices § § § Pair Programming Collective Ownership Continuous Integration Sustainable Pace On Site Customer Coding Standards

XP Roles § The Customer Sets project goals and makes business decisions § The Developer Turn customer stories into working code § The Tracker Keeps track of any metrics used by team § The Coach Guides and mentors team

Scrum

Scrum Roles § Scrum Team § Scrum Master § Carries water and moves boulders § Product Owner § Responsible for maintaining product backlog

Scrum Control Points Meetings: § Sprint Planning § Daily Scrum § Sprint Review (retrospectives and demo)

Feature Driven Development (FDD) Model-driven short-iteration process that consists of five basic activities: Develop Model Build Feature List Plan By Feature Design by Feature Build By Feature Deploy - Jeff de. Luca, 1997

FDD Focus § § § (Object) Modeling centric Client centric Architecture centric Pragmatic Functional decomposition § Subject Area § Business Activity Step

FDD Roles § Chief Programmers Team lead, mentor, developer § Class owner Developer with responsibility for a class § Feature teams Temporary groups of developers formed around classes

Crystal Clear § § § Frequent Delivery Reflective Improvement Osmotic Communication Personal Safety Focus Easy Access to Expert Users § Automated Tests § Configuration Management § Frequent Integration

Crystal Clear “The team can reduce intermediate work products as it produces running code more frequently, as it uses richer communication channels between people. ” - Alistair Cockburn

Crystal Clear “Every product is slightly different and evolves over time, so the methodology, the set of conventions the team adopts, must be tuned and evolve. ” - Alistair Cockburn

Crystal Clear Roles § Sponsor: Allocates money for the project § Expert User § Lead Designer § Lead Technical person, mentors less experienced team members § Designer-Programmer § Each person designs and programs

DSDM § § § § Active user involvement Teams empowered to make decisions Frequent delivery of products Fitness for business purpose Iterative and incremental delivery All changes reversible Testing throughout lifecycle Collaboration with all stakeholders

Agile Method’s Focus Methodology DSDM Project Management Scrum Crystal Engineering FDD XP Structure DSDM Unstructured Crystal Structured Scrum XP FDD

Lean Manufacturing § Optimizing production through removal of waste and improving flow § A process management philosophy based on Toyota Production System (TPS) § Focus effort on producing valueadded features § Just in time delivery

Lean Software Development § Everything not adding value to customer is waste includes: § § § Unnecessary code and features Delay in development Unclear requirements Bureaucracy Slow internal communications § By Mary and Tom Poppendieck

Project Management Agile Project Management: § The PM is the person who facilitates the team's work, removes obstacles, manages risks, and explains to management what is going on. Good PMs are on the side of the team, because that's how the product gets delivered. The Scrum. Master facilitates the team's process and removes obstacles for the team.

Project Management Agile Project Management: § Following the values and principles of the Declaration of Interdependence (DOI) § Written by the founders of the Agile Project Leadership Network (apln. org)

Declaration of Interdependence § Continuous flow of value § Engage customers § Create an environment where individuals can make a difference § Expect uncertainty and manage for it § Context specific strategies, processes, and practices § Group accountability

Why Use Agile …

Project Challenges

Project Statistics Standish Group Study, reported by CEO Jim Johnson, CIO. com, ‘How to Spot a Failing Project’

Project Statistics Improvements Due To Better: § Tools § Project Managers § Adaptive Methods § Breaking projects into small chunks § Delivering pieces faster for user feedback

Never or Rarely Used: 64% Rarely 19% Always or Often Used: 20% Sometimes 16% Often 13% Never 45% Always 7% Standish Group Study, reported by CEO Jim Johnson, XP 2002

Failures Main Reasons For Project Failure : § § Lack of end user involvement Poor requirements Unrealistic schedules Inadequate change control § Lack of testing § Inflexible processes

Success Factors § § § § User involvement Management support Clear vision & objectives Proper planning Realistic expectations Smaller milestones Competent staff Ownership

Challenges § § Deliver the right product Meet customer’s changing needs Deliver to rapidly moving market windows Innovate on both sides of your business model § Get more done by doing less § Lead in the marketplace

Companies Must… § Deliver Business Value § Increase Productivity § Lead Change § Find Solutions § Innovate

Project Management § Remove Obstacles Agile Methodologies Summary

Agile Methods Summary § e. Xtreme Programming, XP § Scrum § Feature Driven Development, FDD § Crystal Methods § Dynamic Systems Development Method, DSDM § Lean Development

User Stories Your Questions?

Scrum Deep Dive

Scrum on a Page Roles Product Owner Stakeholders Artifacts Meetings Product Backlog Release Plan Meeting Sprint Backlog Sprint Plan Meeting Scrum Master Blocks List Daily Scrum Team Information Radiator Sprint Review Meeting Concept inspired by William Wake’s “Scrum on a Page, ” http: //xp 123. com/xplor/xp 0507/index. shtml

Definitions Roles

Stakeholders Anyone that can give input to the business objectives of the product.

Types of Stakeholders Principals Stakeholders who champion the need for your software and have the authority to acquire and deploy it. End Users Stakeholders who personally interact with your software. Partners Stakeholders who make your product work in real life, such as operations teams and also business partners and system integrators. Insiders Stakeholders within your own organization; such as developers, support engineers, sales, architecture, and marketing teams.

“ The customer is always moving, changing, and if you’re not out there all the time trying to understand the functional and emotional needs of consumers, your design will simply fall flat. “ - Matthew May

Outside-in development is a set of principles that focus teams on developing software which helps stakeholders be successful in their business. Problem: Solutions don’t work as imagined. Cause: The facts aren’t clearly understood. Solution: Learn to see. Understanding Your Stakeholders Aligning with stakeholder goals Understanding Organizational Context Defining Success in Your Stakeholders’ Term Making Products Consumable Goal: Get inside the [stakeholder’s] mind. Outside-In Software Development

I can’t imagine a world without Your product “ It usually does what we want, if painfully at times You know you’re lean when: customers pull compelling value from you effortlessly. “ Not only could I imagine a world without it, I long For it Without it, our business would suffer, and I would feel a sense of personal loss

Product Owner § Prioritizes backlog in collaboration with …

Scrum Master § Removes the barriers between development and the customer so the customer directly drives development § Facilitates creativity and empowerment § Improving the productivity of the development team in any way possible § Improving the engineering practices and tools so each sprint is ready to deploy

Scrum Master § Is not the project manager �Team manages itself § Doesn’t have authority over the team �Team makes decisions § Always asks the question: “How are the Product Owner and Team doing? ” § Challenges the organization, key-role in the change �However, a dead scrum master is a useless scrum master

Teams § Add self organizing and ownership bits here.

Unleashing Innovation Exercise Collaboration Process

Quick Exercise (A) 1. Form pairs 2. Assign one as boss, the other as worker 3. The boss can give the following commands: Go, Stop, Right, Left, Faster, Slower 4. The worker must follow the boss’s commands 5. Goal: 60 steps in two minutes 6. The boss can command the worker but not touch the worker

Quick Exercise (B) 1. Everyone is a worker and responsible for figuring out how to proceed during the exercise 2. Goal: 60 steps in two minutes

“Self-directed” or “Self organizing” Teams The concepts of leadership, management, and team involvement are prospectively very different § Encouraging a collaborative environment § All roles support one another

example: self-organizing teams: 3 M

ID/Writers Designer Product Owner Coders/programmers Architect Product Champion The “Whole Team” Concept Project Managers Testers Other Roles

Create a Trusting Environment “ When you're in a ‘trusted’ environment, teams tend to innovate better, more quickly and overall transaction costs are much lower. “ Sue Mc. Kinney VP MSM Development Pitney Bowes

Trust/Ownership Model Leadership & Business Process Trust Control Low Failure No One Cares Command & Control Team Does as Instructed No Ownership Leader / Process is Bottleneck Energy & Innovation we o d w o e? r H e h get Team Trusted Team Accountable Leader Freed Conflict Team Demotivated Mired in Bureaucracy & Wasted Effort Team/Individual Ownership High

What Does a Trust Environment Feel Like? Leader’s View § § The team won't let me down The team understands what we need They will do the right thing They will tell me if they need help

What Does a Trust Environment Feel Like? Individual within the Team § We understand the vision and the need § We are jointly committed to meeting our goals § We stand or fall together § We have Ownership

Self-directed teams: Is this lunacy? Two principles supporting the Agile Manifesto: § Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done. § The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.

Definitions Roles Summary

Roles in a Nut Shell § Stakeholders: gives input as to the product business objectives § Product owner: responsible for the business value of the project § Scrum. Master: ensures that the team is functional and productive § Team: self-organizes to get the work done

Artifacts

Product Backlog § The current view of the requirements § Consists of Epic User Stories § Prioritised by the Product Owner in collaboration with Stakeholders § Prioritized based on Business Value and Risk

Release Backlog § Each Release has a theme § Release Backlog contains the User Stories for that release § Made up of User Stories (broken down Epic User Stories)

Sprint Backlog § Each Sprint has a goal § Team agrees on goal and commits to it § User Stories for the Sprint

Blocks List § Internal – Actions within the team § External – Actions beyond the team § Updated by the Scrum Master § Scrum Master resolves them with team

Information Radiator § Visual representation of progress § Display of: § § § Work Planned (Product, Release and Sprint) Work in Progress Work Done User Stories to mitigate risk User Stories to gather information to make future decisions

Burndown Chart Part of the Information Radiator

Example

Artifacts Summary

Artifacts Summary § Product backlog: prioritized list of desired project outcomes/features (epic user stories) § Release Backlog: prioritized list of user stories for the release § Sprint backlog: set of work from the product backlog that the team agrees to complete in a sprint § Information Radiator: at-a-glance look at the work progress

Meetings § Leadership Influence

Sprint Planning Meeting § § At the beginning of a new Sprint Chaired by the Scrum Master Attended by all including Key Stakeholders Update the Product Backlog with new requirements § Select highest priority items in the backlog based on Business Value § Define the Sprint Goal

Daily Scrums § § § Daily 15 minute status meeting Same place and time every day Chaired by Scrum Master Attended by entire sprint team Others can attend Chickens and pigs (only the deliverers speak)

Daily Scrums Each team member answers: § What did you do yesterday? § What are you doing today? § What are your blocking issues? No problem solving! Leave after 15 minutes!

Daily Scrum Records § Sprint Backlog up to date § Scrum Master updates the blocks list

Sprint Review Meeting § Held the last day of the sprint § Attended by team § Team demos “done” user stories to stakeholders § Requests feedback § Team holds retrospective § Updates the process for the next sprint

Demonstration § Only DONE working user stories. § Ask for attendance from the following for the first 4 iterations as numbered: 1. 2. 3. 4. Executive Internal users Stakeholders Customers

How do you know when you’re “done”?

Team Defines of “Done” Consider: § No showstoppers § All errors that the team has not agreed to are removed § Code is unit tested, function tested, system tested, performance tested, tested end-to-end § A meaningful stakeholder review has been conducted

Team Defines of “Done” Can this really be done? This puts a high premium on: § Valuable, maintained, nested automation § Appropriate coverage (e. g. 80%) § True test-driven development § Avoiding technical debt § Continuous integration § Really understanding what quality looks like

Example Jeff Sutherland (co-creator of Scrum), said while @ Patient. Keeper: “It took us four years to get done, done. ” Patientkeeper provides safety critical patient management software

Example What does “Done”, “Done” mean? § § It is fully developed It is fully tested It has no Severity 1 s or 2 s It has been deployed before a release in a client environment

Example They ship § A major release every 3 months § A minor release every month § And minor updates once a week Consider the competitors, teams of 600 -700 developers and they cannot achieve the work flow Patientkeeper does.

Retrospective § Keep § Drop § Add Keep? Drop? Add? What surprised you?

Meetings Summary § Leadership Influence

Scrum Meetings Summary § Sprint planning: team and product owner choose work to deliver during a sprint § Daily scrum: team meets each day to share struggles and progress § Sprint reviews: team demonstrates what completed during the sprint § Sprint retrospectives: team discusses ways to improve product and process.

Unleashing Innovation Scrum Exercise Collaboration Process

Develop a Brochure in a 3 day Sprint Complete Sprint Planning Meeting -10 min § Select at least 5 Product Backlog Items § Identify 2 to 3 Tasks per Item 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Day 1 § 8 minute day 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 Day 2 00 01 02 Day 3 00 01 02 § 2 minute Daily Scrum Meeting 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 § 8 minute day 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 § 2 minute Daily Scrum Meeting § 8 minute day Demo & Reflection

Scrum Deep Dive Summary

Scrum on a Page Roles Product Owner Stakeholders Artifacts Meetings Product Backlog Release Plan Meeting Sprint Backlog Sprint Plan Meeting Scrum Master Blocks List Daily Scrum Team Information Radiator Sprint Review Meeting Concept inspired by William Wake’s “Scrum on a Page, ” http: //xp 123. com/xplor/xp 0507/index. shtml

Scrum Best Practices § Test Driven Development § Pair testers and developers § Continuous Integration

References § http: //scrumalliance. org/pages/ what_is_scrum § http: //scrumalliance. org/pages/ scrum_student_resources § The Elegant Solution, Matthew May § Outside-in Software Development, Carl Kessler and John Sweitzer

References Agile Project Management with Scrum, Ken Schwaber § Agile Software Development with Scrum, Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle

Scrum Deep Dive - Questions Scrum Deep Dive Questions?

Leading Agile User Stories § Collaboration Model § Collaboration Process

User Stories Overview § Basics § Creating § Refine § Flow

Leading Agile User Story Basics § Collaboration Model § Collaboration Process

What is a User Story? A concise, written description of a piece of functionality that will be valuable to a stakeholder. As a <role>, I can <goal> so that <business value>

User Story Roles As a <role>, I want to <goal> so that I can <business value> § Avoid “the user” as different stakeholders have different needs § M. Cohn recommends using roles so that you do not “miss” stories § Teams can develop a set of user roles to help define relevant stories

User Story Goals As a <role>, I want to <goal> so that I can <business value> § Goal is “what the role can do” § Valuable to a stakeholder § Doesn't say “how”, but “what”

User Story Business Value As a <role>, I want to <goal> so that I can <business value> § § § Justifies the value of the story Clarifies why a feature is useful Can influence how a feature should function Helps prioritize the story in the backlog Can lead to other useful features that support the user’s goals

Example As an < astronaut > I can < write easily while in Zero gravity > So that < I can record key information that I might otherwise forget >

Example NASA specified and developed, at great expense, a ball point pen that Apollo astronauts could use in space where gravity would not make the ink flow. Russian cosmonauts used pencils. Moral: specify what you want to achieve, not how to achieve it

Exercise § At your table, build three user stories

Why use User Stories? § Right size for planning, works for iterative development § Defer detail until you have the best understanding you are going to have about what you really need § Focus on user goals rather than feature attributes

Why use User Stories? § Emphasize verbal rather than written communication Potentially fixes issues with “vague requirements” § Comprehensible by both stakeholders and the development team § Stories support evolutionary development

Where User Stories Help Value to Stakeholders § Stories target functionality valuable to stakeholders § Story demos each iteration engage stakeholders

Where User Stories Help Simplified Features § Stories enable light-weight requirements gathering, progressive discovery § Stories focus on feature essentials

Where User Stories Help Release Predictability § Stories by definition fit in time-boxed iteration § Stories that fail in an iteration provide early warning system § Cadence of story completion over multiple iterations will demonstrate release predictability

Leading Agile Creating User Stories § Collaboration Model § Collaboration Process

Release Themes § Release themes are based on business objectives § A well known release theme is critical to team success § Themes should embody highest business value needs of the stakeholders and the product

Release Themes § Focus on stakeholder success § Focus on product welfare: reduce technical debt, increase maintainability, etc. § Provide a common goal for the “whole team” § Prioritize and de-prioritize work

Epic User Stories capture stakeholder goals for release themes. § § § Epic User Stories fit into releases Will not likely fit in an iteration Team has an idea of how large the effort is Product backlog contains Epic User Stories Create Epic User Stories with Stakeholders This is the product backlog.

Creating User Stories Don’t focus only on the end-user role. Consider other stakeholder types as well. Principals Stakeholders who champion the need for your software and have the authority to acquire and deploy it. End Users Stakeholders who personally interact with your software. Partners Stakeholders who make your product work in real life, such as operations teams and also business partners and system integrators. Insiders Stakeholders within your own organization; such as developers, support engineers, sales, architecture, and marketing teams.

Creating Epic User Stories Insiders: �As a database administrator �I can back up a database �So that the data can be recovered if a failure occurs.

Creating Epic User Stories Insiders: �As a developer, �I know within 15 minutes whether the new code I checked in is integrated successfully with previous code �So that … What is the business value for this user story?

Creating Epic User Stories Principals want time to value, return on investment: �As a principal, �I can have the software deployed and running in production less than one month after purchase, �So that …. What is the business value for this user story?

Creating Epic User Stories Partners (business partners, support organizations. . . ) �As a support engineer, �I can easily understand the levels of OS software used so that I can quickly reproduce reported failures, �So that …. What is the business value for this user story?

Unleashing Innovation Exercise Collaboration Process

Exercise § At your table, pick a product § Create Release Themes § Create 2 -3 Epic User Stories for the first/next 3 releases

User Story Team Create a User Story Team, including (but not limited to): § § Product Owner Stakeholders Scrum Master Cross-disciplinary Representatives from the scrum team • Technical knowledge required

User Story Team Stakeholders on User Story Team § Represent each important stakeholder type: • • Principles End Users Partners Insiders § If real stakeholders are not available, assign stakeholder champions (team members) § Champions get to know the stakeholder, understand their requirements

User Story Team Refer to Mike Cohn’s book for details on how to form a user story team and gather epic stories.

User Story Team § Keep team as small as possible… but not too small § Identify team champion to coordinate input § Agree on success factors for release § Use team to develop the first draft of user stories § Use appropriate team members to further re/define stories right before every iteration

Leading Agile Refining User Stories § Collaboration Model § Collaboration Process

Breaking stories Project Management into smaller stories How Do We Deliver?

Using User Stories § Break Epic User Stories into smaller User Stories § Break Epics for the next one (or two) releases § User Stories by definition fit into an iteration § User Stories from the Release Backlog § Avoid user stories that are too small: �When documenting the story takes longer than implementing it �Bugs, user interface tweaks, etc.

User Stories Successful iterations have multiple small stories: § Smaller stories can be implemented & tested progressively throughout the iteration § Reduces the time between code and test

Who Sizes the Stories? Cross-disciplined scrum team that will deliver the story § Stories are sized in "story points" – relative to one another �Based on the team’s skills �Based on the technology they will use § Use “Planning Poker” (next class module) § No two scrum teams will size the story the same

Who Sizes the Stories? What if you cannot size a story? § May need more domain knowledge, have more conversations § If technology is unknown, use architectural spikes �Short (time-bounded) iteration to learn “just enough” to proceed

Break Stories into Smaller Stories

User Stories Recommendation: �Do not maintain a hierarchy of stories under an epic �Easier to manage a flat list of user stories �Hierarchical stories overcomplicate the backlog �Hard to remove smaller stories

Splitting on Operational Boundaries First: Search Screen Fields Complex Data Display Grid Query Builder Database § Basic User Interface § 50% of search fields § Parts of query builder that used those fields § Message “search found 297 matches” Second: § Data display grid Third: § Remaining search fields § Remainder of query builder

Splitting into separate CRUD operations CREATE READ UPDATE DELETE § As a technical marketing rep, I can add (create) an orderable part to the online catalog § As a technical marketing rep, I can view (read) the list of orderable parts in the online catalog § As a technical marketing rep, I can edit (update) an orderable part in the online catalog § As a technical marketing rep, I can remove (delete) orderable parts from the online catalog

Remove Cross-Cutting Concerns Consider creating two versions of the story: One that meets cross-cutting concerns and one that does not. Cross-cutting concerns: § § Security Logging Error handling Etc.

Attributes of a Good User Story INVEST ( From Mike Cohn) Attribute Explanation ü Independent Does not depend on other stories ü Negotiable ü Valuable Not all details necessary ü Estimate-able ü Small ü Testable You can estimate stories via story points Has tangible value to stakeholders of the software Fits in an iteration by definition Required to demonstrate that story is “done”

Exercise § Break your Epic User Stories for the first release into User Stories. § Do they all have the attributes of a good user story (INVEST)?

Leading Agile User Stories Flow § Collaboration Model § Collaboration Process

Flow: The Big Picture Epics Release Planning Stories Trawl for Requirements Stakeholder Goals Create/size User Stories Release Backlog Epics Stories Iteration Backlog Get Feedback Demo Working Code to Stakeholders Reflect & Take Action Time Boxed Iteration • Scrum • Code, Doc & Test • Discuss Story Progress Select High-priority Stories Refine Stories, Plan Work

Evolutionary Feature Design Why not stick to well defined features documented in the beginning of the release? § Once users see a feature start to work, they better understand how they want to use the feature § Feature design & functionality will adapt to what becomes possible in the technology as you use it & learn about it § Release priorities, market forces, and stakeholder needs change throughout the life of the product § Team members learn from stakeholders as they go

Evolutionary Design: How it can User Stories Summary work Map content released functionality iteratively 1: Input an address and see the location on a street map 2: Input two addresses and get directions between them 3: Change the route by dragging the route to other streets If this feature was fully specified in the beginning, how would it look? How would you specify alternate routes? Using current traffic? Listing the other roads to use? Once you see the route, it seems obvious to want to drag it Lessons? Evolutionary feature design worked �Get “enough” functionality out sooner � Discover what feature to add next based on feedback Jun/10 181

User Stories Overview § § Basics Creating Refine Flow

Terms § § § Epic User Story User Stories Release Themes Champions Architecture Spikes

References § Agile Project Planning: Writing Good User Stories: http: //www. extremeplanner. com/blog/2006/0 1/writing-good-user-stories. html User Stories Applied, Mike Cohn

User Stories Your Questions?

Reflection

Key Characteristics of Successful Agile Projects • • Short, Stable, Time-Boxed Iterations Stakeholder Feedback Self-Directed Teams Sustainable Pace

Project Framework

Project Framework - Iteration Plan Inception Elaboration • Architectural “Spikes” • Prototyping Construction consumability tasks integration with other components / products Transition globalization and translation focus Production

Framework – Overlapping Releases Inception Elaboration Construction Inception Elaboration Transition Production Construction

Framework - Overlapping Releases Inception Elaboration Construction Transition Inception Warning: Beware of Power. Point Architects Production Elaboration