View
9
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
BacklogsThe good, the bad and the ugly
Lynda Girvan
Introduction
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Backlogs – the good, bad and ugly
1. Using goals to improve backlogs2. Creating value stories3. Splitting stories to retain value4. How to effectively incorporate NFRs
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
1. Using goals to improve backlogs
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
If you want to succeed, you need to set goals…
• Goal setting enables you to control the direction of the work
• Goals are a benchmark for assessing whether you are actually achieving
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Backlogs and goals?• If just high-level project goals, we can lose sight
of whether we are achieving value
• Agile Hierarchy:ReleasesStoriesTasks
Copyright ©2017, Girvan and Paul, Agile & Business Analysis, BCS
Release backlog
Increasing level of detail
Iteration backlog
Increasing priority
Decomposing goals
Copyright ©2017, Girvan and Paul, Agile & Business Analysis, BCS
Solution goal
Release 1 goal
Release 2 goal
Later releases
Iteration 1 goal
Iteration 2 goal
Iteration 3 goal
Iteration 4 goal
Increasing priority
Split big goals into smaller goals
Smaller goals contribute to bigger goals
Using goals to improve backlogs
Bad: Don’t create goals that define technical design
Ugly: Don’t jump straight to stories
Good: Use goals/outcomes to articulate business value
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
2. Creating value stories
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Goal decomposition
As an event organiser, I want to plan and execute a
10km fun run.
Think how you might decompose this story…
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Goal v functional decomposition
Functional decomposition Goal decomposition
Small free 10k event with marshals
Small 10k run with 5 friends
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Creating value stories
Bad: Don’t split big goals into big plans
Ugly: Don’t decompose your goals functionally into work tasks
Good: Decompose big goals into smaller goals
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
3. Splitting stories and retaining value
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Splitting stories to retain value
Independent
Negotiable
Valuable to users or customers
Estimatable
Small
Testable
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Creating value stories
Copyright ©2017, Girvan and Paul, Agile & Business Analysis, BCS
Creating value stories
Copyright ©1998-2016 Delta Matrix. All Rights Reserved.
Splitting stories so value is retained
• As a … corporate customer • I want to… book a hotel room • So I can… work in another location
Which part of the story is the goal?
book hotel room
book a hotel room
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
• As a … corporate customer • I want to… book a hotel room • So I can… work in another location
• Book by phone, email, through website
• Book one hotel room, multiple rooms, different dates, book rooms for multiple people
book a hotel room
Splitting stories so value is retained
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Patterns for splitting stories
• Interface (iOS, Android, browser)• User type (UK, EU, Persona based)• Split by CRUD• Scenario flow (basic flow, alternative flow,
exceptions)• good, better, best
See Tony Heap’s blog – http://www.its-all-design.com/how-to-split-user-stories/
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Managing the backlog
New backlog item
High priority
Refined / split
Lower priority
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Managing the backlog
Refined stories
Important
Less important
High priority
Lower priority
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Splitting stories and retaining value
Bad: Don’t split stories by justification (so I can….) part of story
Ugly: Don’t split stories that don’t need splitting yet
Good: Split stories so that the value is still obvious
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
4. How to effectively incorporate NFRs into your backlog
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
What are non functional requirements?
Functional requirement
What the system needs to do
• Functions• Behaviour
Non functional requirement
How well it does it
• Soft goals• Global qualities
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Categories of NFRs
• Persistent• Set constraints/limits• Need to be known upfront
Global
• Operational• Make functionality better• Evolve over time
Associated
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Global (persistent) NFRs• Need to be known up-front
Global NFR
NFR Document
DoD
Add to ‘Definition of Done’
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Associated NFRs
Value stories
End-user
AssociatedNFR
End-user
• Need to be known ‘just-in time’• Add to confirmation
•Include in BDD scenarios•Add to Definition of Done
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Testing for value
Story In Progress Tested Done
• The sum of the parts does not always equal the whole
• Test for value• Use BDD/confirmation tests
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Incorporating NFRs into backlog
Bad: Don’t write NFRs as user stories. They don’t add value on their own.
Ugly: Don’t just test the tasks, test the story
Good: Understand and capture global NFRs upfront and document
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Summary
1. Use goals to maintain business context2. Ensure all stories are valuable to customer3. Retain value when splitting stories4. Ensure NFRs are incorporated
Copyright ©2019, CMC Partnership Consultancy Ltd
Lynda Girvan
Questions?
Recommended