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Points and KPIs

What is Agile story point?​

You can read this post: https://www.atlassian.com/agile/project-management/estimation

Story points in Agile methodology are a unit of measure used to estimate the relative size or effort required to complete a user story or a task within a software development project. User stories represent features or functionalities from an end-user perspective, and they are typically expressed in a simple, non-technical language.

Instead of estimating the absolute time it will take to complete a user story, Agile teams assign story points based on the complexity, effort, and risk involved in delivering that particular piece of work. Story points are a relative measure, meaning they represent the size of one user story relative to another.

The most common scale used for story points is the Fibonacci sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, etc.), or the modified Fibonacci sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13), where each number represents a relative level of complexity and effort. For instance, a user story with a story point of 3 is considered to be more complex and effortful than a user story with a story point of 2 but less so than a user story with a story point of 5.

By estimating user stories in story points, Agile teams can:

Facilitate more accurate and consistent estimation by focusing on relative complexity rather than absolute time. Encourage collaboration and discussion among team members to gain a shared understanding of the work. Improve forecasting and planning by allowing teams to better predict the amount of work they can complete within a given iteration or sprint. Provide a basis for measuring team velocity, which is the rate at which the team completes user stories or tasks over time. It's important to note that story points are not meant to represent actual time but rather a measure of effort and complexity. They are a tool for Agile teams to facilitate planning and prioritization, rather than a precise metric for tracking time spent on tasks.

Story points matrix calculator​

Our task point will mainly rely on the Complexity and Uncertainty. Meanwhile, Complexity and Uncertainty will consists of many factors and questions to be answered

Complexity = Effort|Size + Past Experience​

Certainly! Let's consider an example task related to developing a Shopify SaaS (Software as a Service) app:

Example Task:

Low Complexity (1 Point):​

  • Update UI banner, card, text, user guide link
  • Update existing widget behavior, or copy the same widget.

Medium Complexity (2 Points):​

  • Adding a basic feature that allows users to change the color, text of a widget
  • Troubleshooting a bug, requires minor fixes for FE widget

Medium Complexity (3 Points):​

  • Developing a feature that provides advanced inventory management capabilities, such as batch editing or bulk import/export.
  • Implementing a customer segmentation feature that allows users to target specific customer groups with personalized marketing campaigns.
  • Creating a feature that integrates with external shipping carriers for real-time shipping rates and label printing.

High Complexity (5 Points):​

  • Building a feature that enables users to create and manage complex product bundles or kits with dynamic pricing.
  • Implementing a subscription billing system with tiered pricing plans, trial periods, and recurring billing.
  • Developing a multi-store synchronization feature that allows users to manage inventory and orders across multiple Shopify stores from a single dashboard.

High Complexity (8 Points):​

  • Creating a feature that provides AI-driven product recommendations based on customer behavior and purchase history.
  • Developing a visual drag-and-drop editor for designing custom storefront layouts and landing pages.
  • Implementing an advanced analytics dashboard with predictive analytics and data visualization tools.

Very High Complexity (13 Points):​

  • Building a feature that leverages machine learning algorithms to automatically optimize product pricing and inventory levels based on market demand and competitor pricing.
  • Developing a comprehensive marketing automation suite with features like abandoned cart recovery, personalized email campaigns, and social media retargeting.
  • Implementing a fully customizable app framework that allows users to extend and customize app functionality through custom code or integrations with third-party services.

By assessing the complexity of implementing various features for a Shopify SaaS app, you can assign story point values ranging from 1 to 13, reflecting the relative effort and complexity involved in each task. These estimations help Agile teams plan and prioritize their development efforts effectively.

Uncertainty | Risk​

Certainly! Let's assess the uncertainty associated with implementing various features for a Shopify SaaS app and assign story point values accordingly:

Example Task: Implementing a Shopify SaaS App Feature

  1. Low Uncertainty (1 Point):
  • Adding a feature to allow users to update their account settings, such as email address or password.
  • Implementing a basic feature to display product images and descriptions on the storefront.
  • Creating a feature to generate basic sales reports based on order data.
  1. Low to Medium Uncertainty (2 Points):
  • Developing a feature to integrate with a popular payment gateway for processing transactions.
  • Implementing a basic inventory management feature to track stock levels and receive notifications for low inventory items.
  • Adding a feature to allow users to create and manage product categories and collections.
  1. Medium Uncertainty (3 Points):
  • Building a feature to support multiple currencies and languages for international storefronts.
  • Implementing a feature to handle product variants and options with complex pricing and inventory rules.
  • Developing a feature to integrate with a third-party fulfillment service for order fulfillment and shipping.
  1. Medium to High Uncertainty (5 Points):
  • Creating a feature to implement custom checkout flows or additional payment methods beyond standard credit card processing.
  • Developing a feature to support complex tax calculations and compliance requirements for different regions or jurisdictions.
  • Integrating with third-party apps or APIs to provide advanced marketing automation or customer relationship management (CRM) functionality.
  1. High Uncertainty (8 Points):
  • Building a feature to implement a fully customizable theme editor for users to design and customize their storefront appearance.
  • Developing a feature to handle complex subscription billing scenarios with metered usage or proration.
  • Integrating with external systems or services for advanced inventory forecasting and supply chain management.
  1. Very High Uncertainty (13 Points):
  • Creating a feature to implement a machine learning-driven recommendation engine for personalized product suggestions and upselling opportunities.
  • Developing a feature to support advanced order customization options, such as engraving or custom packaging.
  • Integrating with emerging technologies or platforms (e.g., blockchain, virtual reality) to provide innovative and cutting-edge features for users.

By assessing the uncertainty associated with implementing various features for a Shopify SaaS app, you can assign story point values ranging from 1 to 13, reflecting the relative level of uncertainty and risk involved in each task. These estimations help Agile teams prioritize and plan their development efforts effectively, considering factors such as complexity and uncertainty.

Example

1 points​

  • Update label, update UI

2 points​

  • Update UI based on existing UI, attach existing API

3 points​

  • Update existing features with options: changing text, color for the setting and the FE reflect.

5 points​

  • Update new Minor features for user customizing the design of the widget.
  • Update API version (not much impact), require testing.

8 points​

  • Add options

13 points​

21 points​

34 points​

55 points​