Download - Dude where's my backlog?
Dude, where’s my backlog?!
Robin Dymond CST
10-08-2010 ©2010Innovel LLC. All rights reserved www.innovel.net
Who am I?
Robin Dymond, CST
Owner of U.S. based Innovel LLC
Gold sponsor for Agile E.E.
20 years in software development
8 yrs doing Scrum + XP,5 yrs applyingLean
Agile Program Coach in the largest Agile transition in Banking
Trained 800+ people in Scrum in Ukraine
Clients in Europe, US, Canada, Brazil
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Have you ever seen a backlog that looks like this?
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How about this backlog?
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Is your Product Owner spending quality time with your team?
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Whatcanyou do about this?
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Our algorithm guy has this great idea! Let’s build it!
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Let’s write a defect trackerwith [insert new technology here]!
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What do you really want?
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Create a great product that customers love?
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Techniques to get to a great Product Backlog
© 2008, 2009, 2010 Innovel LLC, Rights Reserved. www.innovel.net1111
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Forget the Backlog for a moment…
Lets focus on the system that creates the backlog:
People
Managing PO work
Defining PO work
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Do you have the right person as PO?
People over process
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Key Product Owner Attributes A subject matter expert
Knowledgeable about the business
Has decision making authority
Has lots of time for the team
Good communicator
Uses the system being developed
Facilitates stakeholder input
Listens to the team
Understands the key role of a Product Owner in Scrum
Helps the team improve
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Get the right person for the job
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ManagingPOwork
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Pulling features from the Backlog
PriorityReady for next iteration
Next 2-3 Iterations,Less defined
Epic Story
Epic Story
A group of stories thatComprise a capability
Team
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Backlog Grooming
PriorityPO and Team
PO and Team or Analyst
PO and other POs
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Add sprint preplanning with Team and PO to Scrum
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3
Sprint1
Iteration-planning
DemoRetrospective
ProductBacklog
Sprint 1Backlog
Goal: xyz
DailyStandup meeting
Repeat
Sprint 2
Product Backlog
Backlog Review meetingProductBacklog
NO SURPRISES
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Define a “ready to develop” state for User stories to enter sprint planning.
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Reduce the PO Work in Progress (WIP)
How much stuff is the P.O. working on?
What other projects do they have?
What does sales and marketing demand for road maps and future plans?
How do they interact with stakeholders?
Are there regular facilitated stakeholder meetings to work on the backlog?
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Use a personal kanbanto manage P.O. WIP
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Onlinekanbanfor off site P.O.
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Map the Value Stream
Often all the work done by Product Owners is not clear
Mapping the value stream can reveal bottlenecks for example, approvals
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Making a process flow
More workin process drives a longer cycle time.Putting more work in process does not increase throughput or efficiency.
Work in process (WIP), cycle time and production completion rate are all interrelated:
WIP = Rate x Cycle time thus Cycle time = WIP / Rate
LeanAgile Scrum
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Teams have a capacity, so do Product Owners
How much can 7 people do in 2 weeks?
How about the next 2 weeks and the next 2 weeks…?
A team’s velocity is the amount of working tested software completed every Iteration.
How much capacity does the PO have?
With a value stream map and a kanban you can start to understand PO capacity.
ProductBacklog
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Product Ownership: scope creation or scope management?
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Ensuring what gets built delivers value
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Product Management with Fast Feedback
Plan product
increments,
Market tests
Check
Market
response
Revise product
direction based
on market feedback
Release every Sprint
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Do PO’s evaluate if what was built is being used?
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Automate market feedback, make it transparent
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Prioritization Thinking Tools
Purpose Alignment Model
Simple set of criteria
Creates a decision filter that should be dispersed throughout the company
Great scope cutter!
* Stand back and Deliver, Pixton et. al.
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Purpose Alignment Model
Mar
ket
dif
fere
nti
atin
gL
ow
Hig
h
Partner Differentiating
Who Cares Parity
Low High
Mission critical
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Would you put that project or capability on a billboard?
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A Framework for Product Ownership
Business
CaseBusiness
DriversPrioritize
Categorize
Capabilities
Backlog &
Release
Plan
Strategic planning toOptimize for Return on Investment
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The Business Case
Business CaseUndertaking a project needs to make economic sense. The return required to achieve a tangible output must justify the investment made.
Like all other things Agile, the business case is a living document that will adjust as the situation changes.
Product Owner ResponsibilitiesCraft and update the business case
Ensure all parties are continually aware of overarching goals
Ensure alignment of project to corporate strategic goals
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Writing the Business Case
The effort to create a business case should be appropriate to the level of investment and the perceived risk.
Often there is a standard of business case practices within a company.
Don’t fall into the trap of analysis paralysis If you go beyond two weeks of effort for consider if you
have spent enough time? Agile enables you to stop projects early if the results are
not as expected.
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Product Ownership Framework
Business case
Examine the business case, looking for key elements of value creation.
Look for opportunities to deliver value incrementally
Find the Business Drivers
Find the categories of value creation “Why do this project”, “What kind of value are we creating and for whom”, “What do I really care about”, “What do our customers really care about”?
Business
CaseBusiness
DriversPrioritize
Categorize
Capabilities
Backlog &
Release
Plan
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Business Drivers
Example Business Drivers:
Driver 1. Be first to market
Driver 2. Increase revenue through convenience
Driver 3. Delight the customer to increase usage
Prioritize Business Drivers
With input from your stakeholders, prioritize the business drivers
Don’t allow everything to be a number one priority
Business
Drivers
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Framework #2
Create and Categorize capabilities
Create high level capabilities based on customer value, with the help from the business. User stories provide a good approach.
Sort the capabilities into which business driver they support.
Some capabilities may support more than one driver, pick the most relevant driver.
41
Business
CaseBusiness
DriversPrioritize
Categorize
Capabilities
Backlog &
Release
Plan
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Framework #3
Create Product Backlog and Release plan
Use your prioritized business drivers and list of capabilities to build the product backlog.
Don’t forget to consider items that require long lead times and infrastructure necessary to support the creation of value
Identify points where you think there has been enough value created to release capabilities to production
Business
CaseBusiness
DriversPrioritize
Categorize
Capabilities
Backlog &
Release
Plan
10-08-2010 ©2010Innovel LLC. All rights reserved www.innovel.net
Strategic vs Tactical
Business Case, Business Drivers, and High Level Capabilities are strategic
Product Backlogs are tactical, incorporating release planning, estimates, and detailed User Stories.
Great Product Ownership uses tactics of product backlog management to achieve strategic goals.
Features are not the point. Customer and business value creation and value validation is the purpose.
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Your Product Owner needs a process too
Scrum is silent on how product owners should manage their work
Product Owners feed the rest of the development system and are a constraint
Find ways to build and support effective work processes for your POs.
Define what “Ready for development” means for user stories
Use Lean and just in time ideas to eliminate overworked POs
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Questions?
Innovel LLC Training and Consulting inScrum XP Agile Lean Kanban
GOLD SPONSOR OF AGILE E.E.
Robin Dymond, CST
www.innovel.net
www.scrumtraining.com
Americas: (804) 239-4329
Europe: +32 489 674 366
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Adding Just in Time User Interface design with Paper Prototyping
47
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How to create a paper prototype? Remember being a kid?
Use materials at hand - post-it notes, paper, sketches, white boards, tape
Can also print (or make) blank UI widgets such as text boxes, drop down menus, displays, etc.
Clicking a button should change the prototype, take the user to a new prototypedscreen, pop up, etc.
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Building Tips
Keep the prototype flexible, allow change from stakeholders - it is paper!
Focus on the hard parts, Flows, interaction design, information layout
DON’T make it pretty
Do it with your team for collaboration and learning.
UI elements should
be movable so you
can easily re-layout
the screen.
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Fast and useful usability testing
Outsourced usability testing is expensive to hire, takes time, and is often too late in the project to be useful
Take an Agile approach with iterative in house testing.
A knowledgeable facilitator and observer are required (training for staff)
Morae (PC based test recording tool) for capturing usability testing in UIs
Setup: Laptop, web cam, network, remote PC for observation of testing