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What are Story Points?

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Story points are a type of arbitrary rating system that are used to estimate the effort required to implement a user story using an agile methodology. The rating system is typically kept simple with rankings such as small, medium, large and extra large. It is also common to use a Fibonacci sequence such as 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89.
Story point estimates are used to prioritize and decide how many user stories can be included in a cycle.

Purpose

Story points are essentially used to figure out how many days effort each user story requires for the purposes of planning and scheduling. It is often pointed out that using time based estimates is more direct.
The reasoning for story points is that they are a useful abstraction that reflect the honest reality that estimates are rough approximations. An estimate such as "2 days" or "2.5 hours" sounds more concrete than estimates typically deserve.
Story points may also simplify prioritization and planning as a culture develops around them that people understand. For example, a business unit may intuitively understand that they can fit 1 or 2 extra large stories in a sprint or 10 to 20 small stories.

Planning Poker

Planning poker is an estimation method in which team members secretly estimate each task individually using cards marked with story points. Members of the team reveal their estimates at the same time. When the estimates don't match, those who produced the low and high estimate argue their point. The team then estimates again until a consensus is reached. Planning poker requires a moderator and typically gives final say to those who are most likely to do the work in question.
The point of planning poker is to reduce cognitive biases in the estimation process and to utilize the collective intelligence of the team.
Overview: Story Points
Type
Definition
A rating system that teams use to estimate the effort required to implement a user story.
Value
An abstraction that reduces cognitive biases and recognizes the approximate nature of estimates.
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Project Management

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