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3 Critical Reasons I Stopped Using Story Points

3 Critical Reasons I Stopped Using Story Points

eitake0002

May 21, 2023
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  1. 3 Critical Reasons
    I Stopped Using
    Story Points

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  2. ASIA EDGE TECHNOLOGY. PTD. LTE
    What are Story Points
    ● Story Points are units of measurement of estimation in Agile methodology.
    ● They consider the uncertainty, complexity, and different skill levels among
    developers in their estimations for software development.
    ● They can measure velocity, which is the speed of software development,
    and the development team can use it for continuous improvement.

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  3. ASIA EDGE TECHNOLOGY. PTD. LTE
    3 Flaws of Story Points
    1. Story Points do not support decision-making which is the ultimate purpose
    of estimation.
    2. Story Points are inconsistent in two aspects: inconsistent measurement
    from other events and inconsistent among teams.
    3. Velocity does not matter, but deadline and completion matter in software
    development.

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  4. ASIA EDGE TECHNOLOGY. PTD. LTE
    1. Not Supporting Decision-Making
    ● The purpose of the estimation is to support
    decision-making.
    ● The Product Owner, responsible for
    decision-making, decides based on three-element
    tradeoffs: scope, resources, and time. Estimation
    relates to the time element. However, the Product
    Owner cannot decide based on Story Points
    because it is incompatible with time.
    ● Converting Story Points into time is regarded as an
    anti-pattern.

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  5. ASIA EDGE TECHNOLOGY. PTD. LTE
    2. Inconsistency in Two Aspects
    Inconsistent Measurement
    All Scrum events are defined to be timeboxed with universal units such as minutes, hours, days,
    or months. For example, “Sprint Planning is timeboxed to a maximum of eight hours for a
    one-month Sprint.” It causes disorganization and confusion in management.
    Inconsistency among teams
    Story Points are inconsistent among teams. This means the same number of Story Points can
    represent different estimations across different projects. For example, Even if Team X predicts
    that the 50-point task will be completed within a two-week Sprint, the same task might take more
    than two weeks for Team Y to complete. It becomes problematic when Agile is scaled into multiple
    teams because each team cannot share estimation knowledge and experience.

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  6. ASIA EDGE TECHNOLOGY. PTD. LTE
    3. Uselessness of Velocity
    ● Velocity, the speed of software development, is a useless metric because no one
    cares about it and is delighted to hear that. What matters are always deadline and
    velocity.
    ● There is no concept of velocity in the business, and no business professionals care
    about it. What matters is when a task will be completed.
    ● For example, this month’s velocity of software development was 500 pt, and we will
    achieve 600 pt next month. As a business professional, are you delighted to hear
    that?

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  7. ASIA EDGE TECHNOLOGY. PTD. LTE
    Bottom Line
    ● Although Story Points are widely used in Agile development, they have three critical
    flaws in real software development.
    ● The first flaw is that Story Points do not support decision-making which is the
    ultimate purpose of estimation.
    ● The second flaw is inconsistency in terms of the unit of measurement and cross-team
    management.
    ● The third flaw is that the velocity is a useless metric. Deadline and completion are
    always important.
    ● Because of these flaws, Story Points do not enhance collaboration between business
    professionals and software engineers in order to maximize product value.

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