Estimating release scope and velocity is a crucial skill for product road mapping. It helps you plan, prioritize, and communicate your product vision and progress. But how can you do it effectively and realistically? Here are some best practices to follow.
User stories are short descriptions of features or functionalities from the perspective of the end user. They help you define the value and scope of your product. Story points are relative units of effort or complexity assigned to each user story. They help you estimate how much work is involved in delivering each feature. By using user stories and story points, you can break down your product into manageable chunks and measure your velocity, which is the amount of story points you can complete in a given time frame.
Also, consider using a T-shirt size prioritization framework that is a simple and effective way to prioritize tasks or initiatives based on their level of importance or urgency. The framework is named after the small, medium, and large sizes of T-shirts, which represent different levels of priority. Using a T-shirt size prioritization framework can help you focus on the most important tasks and avoid getting bogged down in small, less important tasks. By prioritizing your tasks in this way, you can ensure that you are making progress towards your goals and achieving the outcomes that matter most to you.
Estimating release scope and velocity is not a solo task. You need to involve your team and stakeholders in the process. Your team can provide feedback, insights, and estimates based on their expertise and experience. Your stakeholders can provide input, expectations, and priorities based on their needs and goals. By involving your team and stakeholders, you can ensure alignment, collaboration, and transparency in your product road mapping.
100% involve them. Velocity varies between team and tasks. I love to explain the scope and ask in sprint planning for the team to give it points. If different people give different points we unpack why there’s no alignment and solve it together in the room. I also recommend adding research tasks to developers allowing them to provide accurate scope after carefully researching what it takes to accomplish the task.
Estimating release scope and velocity is not a guessing game. You can use historical data and trends to inform your estimates and adjust them accordingly. For example, you can look at your past releases and see how many story points you completed, how long it took, and what challenges you faced. You can also look at your current release and see how your velocity is tracking, what issues are impacting your progress, and what feedback you are receiving. By using historical data and trends, you can improve your accuracy, reliability, and learning in your product road mapping.
The MoSCoW method is a prioritization technique that helps you categorize your user stories into four groups: Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won't have. These groups represent the importance and urgency of each feature for your release. By applying the MoSCoW method, you can focus on the essential features that deliver the most value and impact, and defer or discard the less critical or feasible ones. This way, you can manage your scope and avoid scope creep in your product road mapping.
Estimating release scope and velocity is not a one-time activity. It is an ongoing process that requires regular review and refinement. As your product evolves, so do your user stories, story points, and velocity. You need to monitor your performance, track your progress, and collect feedback from your team and stakeholders. You also need to account for changes, risks, and uncertainties that may affect your estimates. By reviewing and refining your estimates, you can adapt to changing conditions, address gaps and issues, and communicate updates in your product road mapping.