Feature Funny Business

Mike Burns – Agile Coach, Tatts Group

As a < persona >,

I want < some goal / context >

so that < the “why” >

|

Business Unit

Strategic Objective(s)

Strategic Objective

Project

Goal(s)

Goal

Features

Feature

Feature

Feature

User Stories

User Story

User Story

Tasks

Task

Task

Task

Epic

As a < persona >,

I want < some goal / context >

so that < the “why” >

Persona is wrong /

unknown / not useful

Goal / context is wrong /

unknown / not useful

The “why” is only meet the

“rules”, it doesn’t mean anything

3Cs of a User Story

• Card

• Conversation

• Confirmation

No “global” personas list

to select a persona from

No understanding of the

context in relationship to

other stories

The “Why” is not traceable

or relatable to a higher goal

(e.g. Project/Product Goal)

References:

• https://help.rallydev.com/writing-great-user-story

Feature is hard to write

No good definition or

template to follow

Story is broken down from a

not-so-good feature

Not enough

training / coaching

Feature

User Story

User Story

GoalStrategic Objective

A feature is a distinctive and

prominent attribute of a solution.

distinctive

prominent attribute solution

Xmas Halloween

Fancy Dress

Scary Mask

Bunny Costume

Serve Food

Christmas Cake

Pumpkin Pie

Have Great Seasonal Festivities

Santa Suit

Features vs ThemesA feature is a distinctive

and prominent attribute

of a solution.

A theme is for grouping

and additional

metadata/context.

“Rules” of a Feature

A feature

• sits in the work item hierarchy, e.g. Goal -> Feature -> Story.

• should be estimable.

• should be able to be placed on a timeline with approximate start

and end dates or appropriate milestones.

• can be broken down into many (more than 1) stories (or epics).

• provide a perceived value to a group(s) of stakeholders.

* As with every “rule”, these are made to be broken and there

will always be the exception.

Inventory Management

Book Management

Magazine Management

Search

Filter List

Show ‘Inside Book’

Search LoginDisplay

Products

Login

Reporting

Shopping Cart

Be the world’s largest bookstore

By the end of the year, we will sell all our products online.

Purchase Products

Credit Card Purchase

Books

A feature is a distinctive

and prominent attribute

of a solution.

• In the work item hierarchy

• Estimable

• Milestones

• Broken down

• Valuable

Hi my name is:

Feature

• Primary – users who work regularly

and directly with the product or

solution

• Secondary – users who support the

primary users of the product or

solution

• Tertiary – users who use the results of

the system being used, usually

decision makers

• Facilitators – users who focus on

design, development and

maintenance of the product or solution

Display Products

Inventory Management

ReportingPurchase Products

Jacinta

Product Manager

Dan

Customer

Sharon

Warehouse Manager

Will

Finance Manager

Run End of Month Report

Purchase with Visa

Add Book to Store Catalog

Select Book From Catalog

Send Purchase to Customer

Run Stock ReportAlert Warehouse

of New Stock

A feature is a distinctive and

prominent attribute of a solution.

If your stories stink, check the fish head.

Thank You!

Fin.

Fe

atu

re F

un

ny B

usin

ess

Mik

e B

urn

s –

Agile

Co

ach

, Ta

tts G

rou

pS

ep

tem

ber,

20

17

A fe

atu

re is a

dis

tin

ctive

and

pro

min

ent

att

ribute

of a s

olu

tion.

Fe

atu

re N

am

e:

<sta

rt w

ith a

verb

, e.g

. m

anage,

pro

tect;

or

end w

ith a

noun t

hat

denote

s a

n a

ction, re

sultin

g s

tate

or

conditio

n (

achie

ved b

y a

ddin

g -

ment

or

-ion t

o a

verb

), e

.g.

managem

ent, p

rote

ction>

Su

mm

ary

:T

his

fe

atu

re w

ill…

<w

ha

t p

rob

lem

is it

solv

ing/w

hat is

the o

bje

ctive?>

Pe

rso

na

s:

<w

ho

is it solv

ing a

pro

ble

m f

or/

who b

enefits

from

it?

>

Sc

op

e:

<w

he

n d

oes it solv

e the p

roble

m /

where

does it

solv

e the p

roble

m /

how

often d

oes it solv

e the p

roble

m /

wh

at

is th

e c

on

text

of

the

ch

an

ge

>

Be

ne

fits

:<

on

ce t

he p

roble

m h

as b

een s

olv

ed w

hat

diffe

rence d

o w

e s

ee?>

Ac

ce

pta

nc

e C

rite

ria

:<

wha

t m

akes it th

e s

olu

tion r

ight

(not

just done,

but

done r

ight)

?>

As

su

mp

tio

ns

:<

wha

t can w

e t

ake for

gra

nte

d?>

Ris

ks

:<

wha

t could

go w

rong?>

Es

tim

ate

d S

ize

:<

T-S

hir

t siz

es,

e.g

. S

=~

2 w

eeks, M

=~

1

month

, L=

~3 m

onth

s (

and if re

quired X

L=

~6

month

s)>

Pla

nn

ed

Sta

rt/E

nd

Date

/ M

ilesto

nes:

<u

se

d f

or

hig

h level pla

nnin

g, port

folio

alig

nm

ent, c

apacity p

lannin

g

etc

.>

Ag

ile F

eatu

res