Developer

By Barnaby Golden, 31 May, 2019

Acceptance Criteria

Checklist tick boxes

Acceptance criteria are story-specific requirements that must be met for the story to be completed. They are a technique for adding functional detail to user stories. Acceptance criteria are often added during backlog refinement or during the sprint planning meeting.

By Barnaby Golden, 27 May, 2019

Balancing Front-End and Back-End Workload

A developer at work

Sometimes, a team finds themselves with requirements that require a lot of back-end development and a small amount of front-end work. If the team has specialist front-end and back-end developers, then it may be tricky to balance the workload.

By Barnaby Golden, 30 January, 2019

Waterfall

Scrum teams take user stories into sprints.

For many teams that is the end of the conversation. They do not need anything else to describe the work they are doing and the requirements they plan to do in the future.

For other teams, particularly those with a long product backlog, it may be beneficial to use other terms for requirements. Terms like 'epic' and 'theme'.

By Barnaby Golden, 2 May, 2018

It is tempting to think of sprint retrospectives as a part of the reporting process. A chance to let people outside of your Scrum Team know what you are discussing and how you are improving.

There are dangers with this approach:

By Barnaby Golden, 18 April, 2016

Favouring a Product Approach over a Project Approach

Pencils and projects

Favour a Product Approach over a Project Approach

Software development has traditionally been done in projects.

Wikipedia describes a project as:

By Barnaby Golden, 9 March, 2015

 

The first few steps in an agile transformation are critical to success. Lay a good foundation and what follows will be simplified.

So what is a good way to start an agile transformation?

By Barnaby Golden, 27 February, 2015

 

The following are some common Scrum myths.

 

Velocity is a measure of performance

Isn't a higher velocity a sign of a more productive team?

The Scrum guide is very clear that velocity is purely about establishing the likely capacity of a team for future sprints. The actual value is irrelevant, it is the predictability that is important.

 

By Barnaby Golden, 2 February, 2015

1. Mike Cohn - Mountain Goat Software

One of the founders of agile, Mike speaks with authority on a number of agile subjects. His focus is slightly more towards the product/project side with less focus on engineering practices.