Estimate in Story Points

In Scrum, estimating Story Points is a technique used to assess the relative effort required to complete a User Story in a software development project. Story Points are a unit of measure for expressing the overall complexity, effort, and risk involved in implementing a given feature. Here’s a general guide on how to estimate using Story Points:

  • Understanding the Story: Before estimating, the development team needs to understand the details and requirements of the User Story. This often involves discussions with the Product Owner and possibly some clarification questions.
  • Relative Estimation: Story Points are a way of estimating effort not in terms of time, but in terms of size and complexity relative to other tasks or stories. It’s a comparative approach rather than an absolute metric.
  • Using a Scale: Teams typically use a Fibonacci-like sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21) to assign Story Points. This scale reflects the non-linear nature of estimating larger and more complex stories.
  • Define Baseline: To help ensure consistency and reliability in the team’s estimates over time it is helpful to have a baseline. The team discusses and agrees on the number of story points for a few select User Stories. The agreed-upon story points for these User Stories serve as a benchmark for future estimations.

How complex is the business logic? (Weight: 20)

Very Low Very High
1 / 5

What is the level of UI complexity? (Weight: 20)

Very Low Very High
1 / 5

How much data integration is involved? (Weight: 15)

Very Low Very High
1 / 5

How many external system integrations are there? (Weight: 15)

None High
1 / 5

What is the expected manual testing effort? (Weight: 10)

Minimal Very High
1 / 5

How predictable are the requirements? (Weight: 10)

Very Predictable Highly Unpredictable
1 / 5

Will the implementation of this user story require refactoring of existing code (technical debt)? (Weight: 10)

None Extensive
1 / 5