Story points are a way of estimating the effort required to complete a user story or any other piece of work in agile software development. A user story is a short description of a feature or functionality that the customer wants from the product.
Important to mention, as many development team members misunderstand. Story points are not related to time, but rather to the complexity, amount of work, and risk or uncertainty of the task.
One story point is a unit of measurement that represents the relative size of a user story. It is not an absolute value, but a way of comparing different user stories and prioritizing them. For example, a simple task might be assigned one story point, while a more complex task might be assigned five story points.
The benefit of using story points is that they allow the development team to estimate the work without getting bogged down by the details of implementation, such as how long it will take, what technologies will be used, or what dependencies will be involved. Story points also help the team to plan and track their progress, as well as to adjust their estimates based on their experience and feedback.
To estimate story points, the development team usually uses a technique called planning poker, where each team member votes on how many points they think a user story is worth, based on their experience and knowledge. The team then discusses the votes and reaches a consensus on the final estimate. Planning poker can help the team uncover hidden assumptions, dependencies, and risks, as well as to align their expectations and understanding of the work.
One story point is not a fixed amount of time or work, but a relative measure that can vary depending on the team, the project, and the context. Therefore, one story point for one team might not be the same as one story point for another team. The important thing is that the team uses a consistent and transparent method to estimate story points, and that they review and refine their estimates regularly.
I teach my team to keep in mind the following parts of 1 story point:
Volume – How much is there?
Complexity – How hard is it?
Knowledge – What’s known?
Uncertainty – What’s unknown?
Based on this knowledge development team members can be more precise in their estimations, moreover they can suggest the estimates to less experienced team members.
A general user story with one point is usually a simple and straightforward task that does not involve much complexity, work, or risk. Here is one possible example:
As a blog reader, I want to be able to leave a comment on a post so that I can share my feedback and opinions with the author and other readers.
This user story has one point because it is easy to understand, implement, and test. It does not require any advanced features or integrations, and it has a clear value for the user. The acceptance criteria for this user story could be something like:
The blog post has a comment section at the end of the page;
The reader can enter their name, email, and comment in the comment form;
The reader can submit their comment by clicking a button;
The comment is displayed below the comment form after submission;
The comment shows the reader’s name, email, and date and time of submission;
The reader can edit or delete their comment within a certain time limit;
The reader can see other comments from other readers on the same post;
The reader can reply to other comments and start a conversation;
SQL user story with one point could look like:
As a data analyst, I want to query the sales table by date and product category, so that I can generate a report on the monthly sales performance of each product category.
The acceptance criteria for this user story could be something like:
The sales table has columns for date, product_id, product_category, and sales_amount
The user can enter a date range and a product category as parameters for the query
The query returns the total sales amount for the selected product category within the date range
The query results are displayed in a tabular format
The query results can be exported to a CSV file
A front-end user story is a description of a feature or functionality that a user wants from the user interface of a web or mobile application. A front-end user story with one point example:
As a blog writer, I want to be able to format my posts with bold, italic, and underline options, so that I can emphasize certain words and phrases in my content.
The acceptance criteria for this user story could be something like:
The blog post editor has buttons for bold, italic, and underline options
The user can select some text and click on the buttons to apply the formatting
The user can see the formatted text in the preview mode
The user can save and publish the post with the formatting
The formatting is displayed correctly on the blog page
One way to write a user story for a back-end process is to use the following template: As a [type of user], I want [some goal] so that [some reason]. For example:
As a data analyst, I want to query the database with SQL so that I can generate reports for the management.
As a system administrator, I want to backup the data every night so that I can restore it in case of a disaster.
As a security officer, I want to encrypt the data in transit and at rest so that I can protect it from unauthorized access.
A user story for a back-end process should be small enough to be completed in one iteration, usually a few days or a week. A story point is a relative measure of the effort required to complete a user story, based on factors such as complexity, uncertainty, and risk. One way to estimate story points is to use a Fibonacci-like scale (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc.) and compare the user stories with each other. For example:
Querying the database with SQL might be a 1-point story, as it is a simple and well-defined task.
Backing up the data every night might be a 3-point story, as it involves some configuration and testing.
Encrypting the data in transit and at rest might be a 5-point story, as it requires more technical knowledge and security standards.
Story points are a useful tool for agile development, as they help the team to focus on the value and scope of the work, rather than the time and cost. By using story points, the team can deliver better products that meet the customer's needs and expectations.
