tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201404.post7792604616763050999..comments2023-05-26T00:21:14.188+10:00Comments on Falkayn's Nest: Do I Need User Stories?Falkaynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13474476407114622880noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201404.post-30693550599427194142010-07-22T03:45:35.479+10:002010-07-22T03:45:35.479+10:00Great summary!Great summary!5x1llzhttp://www.5x1llz.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5201404.post-71533122576148286072010-06-08T10:36:38.237+10:002010-06-08T10:36:38.237+10:00I think that organisations come to Agile because t...I think that organisations come to Agile because they are desperate for improvement. They think the problem is to do with poor software delivery, but I believe the problem is poor requirements (or if you prefer poor 'user stories'). Which suggests that Scrum/XP solves the wrong problem. There is no real issue with talented developers delivering code. The problem is the business being unable to state what they want clearly. Scrum/XP skirts around the issue of user story management. I think where we go from here is we split into an Agile Requirements practice (ARP) and an Agile Delivery practice (ADP). ADP works well. ARP doesn't. Jacobson's view of the essential issues of concern in software engineering echos this approach. i.e. requirements don't belong in delivery, rather requirements are a formal input to delivery. http://www.ivarjacobson.com/process_improvement_technology/essential_unified_process_software/<br /><br />I'm a BA working on ideas for making stories better by the time they get to the Sprint planning meeting so planning poker can be done with enough information to have confidence. I do this using a requirements pattern language I've been using it since 2003 and it works well. The pattern language works for transactionally-oriented database applications and includes patterns for driving out common personas, minimal persistant representation, data maintenance, lifecycle class, and management information.<br />The application of the pattern language ensures the upfront requirements work does not take longer than it should. A first cut of the requirements hierarchy tree is always available within a week. The whole set of ‘conversations’ around each candidate user story is almost always done within five weeks – then the sprint planning meeting can start, and it is guaranteed to be short and sweet. <br />The implementable story hierarchy has project stories at the top. These are akin to ‘Jacobian’ use cases in that they represent the achievement of the user/actor/persona goal. They are the top level of the requirements ‘tree’ and act as the basis of the requirements table of contents. The project stories decompose into release and iteration stories. The entire hierarchy can be traced back to all the business inputs from interviews and workshops. The approach introduces a new definition of ‘epic’ to no longer mean ‘a big story’ (not that helpful) to a more interesting definition that includes:<br />• Enterprise stories<br />• Back stories<br />• Project stories and tests<br />• Release stories and tests<br />• Iteration stories and tests<br />• Constraints<br />• Implementation tales<br />• Non-functional requirements<br />The definition of ‘epic’ shows how all these elements fit together and is supported by graphics and spreadsheets. This approach is really useful early in the project lifecycle. It can be applied during feasibility, and in ‘ideas management’ where management has to decide which projects to fund in the first place. <br /> <br />I'm interested in:<br />• how to bring the PMO onboard<br />• how to reconcile the need for 'governance' with Agile<br />• how to give senior management confidence<br />• what to do when the customer isn't full time available<br />• reconciling enterprise stories, project stories, release stories, iteration stories, constraints, acceptance criteria etc. into a big picture<br />• how upfront requirements/stories can still be Agile (keep it simple, but no simpler than it needs to be)<br />• a synthesis of Agile modeling and the best lightweight aspects of UML<br /><br />I'm blogging at masterstoryteller.co.uk. I also write at princelite.co.uk. <br /><br />thanks PeterPeter Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09355311330844709727noreply@blogger.com