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


Have you ever seen a backlog that looks like this?


How about this backlog?


Is your Product Owner spending quality time with your team?


Whatcanyou do about this?


Our algorithm guy has this great idea! Let’s build it!


Let’s write a defect trackerwith [insert new technology here]!


What do you really want?


Create a great product that customers love?


Techniques to get to a great Product Backlog

© 2008, 2009, 2010 Innovel LLC, Rights Reserved. www.innovel.net1111

http://www.innovel.net


Forget the Backlog for a moment…

Lets focus on the system that creates the backlog:

People

Managing PO work

Defining PO work


Do you have the right person as PO?

People over process


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


Get the right person for the job


ManagingPOwork


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


Backlog Grooming

PriorityPO and Team

PO and Team or Analyst

PO and other POs


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


Define a “ready to develop” state for User stories to enter sprint planning.


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?


Use a personal kanbanto manage P.O. WIP


Onlinekanbanfor off site P.O.


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


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


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


Product Ownership: scope creation or scope management?


Ensuring what gets built delivers value


Product Management with Fast Feedback

Plan product

increments,

Market tests

Check

Market

response

Revise product

direction based

on market feedback

Release every Sprint


Do PO’s evaluate if what was built is being used?


Automate market feedback, make it transparent


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.


Purpose Alignment Model

Mar

ket

dif

fere

nti

atin

gL

ow

Hig

h

Partner Differentiating

Who Cares Parity

Low High

Mission critical


Would you put that project or capability on a billboard?


A Framework for Product Ownership

Business

CaseBusiness

DriversPrioritize

Categorize

Capabilities

Backlog &

Release

Plan

Strategic planning toOptimize for Return on Investment


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


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.


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


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


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


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


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.


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


Questions?

Innovel LLC Training and Consulting inScrum XP Agile Lean Kanban

GOLD SPONSOR OF AGILE E.E.

Robin Dymond, CST

[email protected]

www.innovel.net

www.scrumtraining.com

Americas: (804) 239-4329

Europe: +32 489 674 366


Adding Just in Time User Interface design with Paper Prototyping

47


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.


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.


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