#PORTFOLIO EPIC DEFINITION HOW TO#
#PORTFOLIO EPIC DEFINITION SOFTWARE#

The description focuses on “what” will be implemented and the problem that this feature is going to solve. To evaluate the business value, consider the number of users that will use the functionality, how much will they use it, the urgency of releasing the feature, the ROI, the development effort, and the competition. It represents the “why” behind the reason this feature is needed, and what benefits this functionality will bring to its users. In order to be acceptable to the client, a feature must pass a set of tests, therefore, it has to be testable. They should be small enough to fit in a couple of sprints, and in case they are not, the Scrum Team should split them down further. It means that we should finish a feature in a maximum of 2-3 months. Therefore, they must have enough details for the Scrum team to size it.įeatures span across sprints but they should fit in a single release. Features provide business value and are sizable. You can think about them as a collection of related User Stories or simple tags. We use them to manage big product functionalities, that will deliver significant benefits when released to users.įeatures group together User Stories. But does this mean we cannot use Features in Scrum? Not at all. The shopping cart should have pagination when the list exceeds 10 unique itemsĪn indicator that shows the shopping cart is loading will be displayed to the userĬreate an auto-delete system to remove items that have been in the shopping cart for over 24 hours What is a Featureĭefining Features is a common practice in the Scaled Agile Framework, where they should fit in a Program. Users can get a refund if they return the product to the same CC they paid with Users can remove products from the shopping cart Users can select the quantity for each product Users can add products to the shopping cart It will bring new customers that prefer online orders over placing orders by phone. This functionality will allow customers to place orders faster. More and more customers prefer to order products online. Applying the Epic structureĪs a customer, I want to have a shopping cart so that I can buy products online Their inputs in the early stage are so valuable to build the functionality correctly. In this phase, involve the UX designer and the developers and collaborate with them as much as you can. It should list the functionality that is desired.

Here you provide the details for the entire development team to understand what they are going to build. What feature are you going to build and why are you building it? The Epic introduction should contain the “what” and “why”. And, they are placeholders for a required feature that describes the final output of users’ needs. We can define them in the same way as the User Stories: As a I want, so that. Well-written Epics provide a good understanding and help avoid misunderstandings during development. Here, they cover that part of the functionality that is under their responsibility. Or, in some companies, different Scrum Teams manage certain components that are present in the requirement. If there are multiple sizeable areas that it has to cover, Scrum Teams can split these areas among them. We create Epics early in the project life cycle and the Scrum Team will break them down into smaller pieces of work, called User Stories.Įpics can also span across several teams. They are high-level bullet points of functionality, usually having a business case that supports them.

It’s not required for every product increment to be released at the end of the sprint we produced it in.Īn Epic is a large body of work that spans across releases.

#PORTFOLIO EPIC DEFINITION SOFTWARE#

A release is a piece of working software that is made available to users in a production environment. I will explain the difference between them and how I apply them in which phase of the project.īut before, I should clarify one aspect about increments and releases, some terms that I will use later on.Īt the end of each sprint, we create a potentially shippable product increment. Epics, Features, and User Stories all have their role in different phases of the project life cycle. Requirements have certain characteristics, such as size, the moment they emerge, or the level of detail. Different companies and individuals have different interpretations, so we should not force a hierarchy in a context where it doesn’t fit.

#PORTFOLIO EPIC DEFINITION HOW TO#

So there is a lot of confusion on how to capture requirements for a product or application. To avoid constraining teams, the Scrum Guide is not clear about each of these terms’ purposes.

Portfolio epic definition