99 Test Balloons - A game demonstrating the need for acceptance criteria and quality testing

TLDR - An agile game which promotes the importance of acceptance criteria and test automation in a fun contextual way.

Whilst browsing one of my favourite Agile Games websites, tastycupcakes.org, I came across the 99 Test Balloons game shared by Michael McCollough and saw an opportunity to play the game with some of the teams I work with.

Deciding to channel my inner Nena (From 99 Red Balloons fame) and speaking with one of the Scrum Masters I work with (Heather Cheng), a variation of this game was developed, one which added additional focus on customer centricity from the original.

Time

• With discussion time, this game should last around 30-40 minutes

Materials;

• Packets of party balloons
• Scissors
• Rulers
• String
• Board Markers / Sharpies
• Paper

The game

• Allow group to self organise into equally sized teams (3 - 4 each is ideal)
• Once organised, play the 99 red balloons song - What's life without a bit of whimsy?
• Show a prototype of the product balloon. Teams should be informed that they have three minutes in each sprint to produce as many of the product as possible before demonstrating to the product owner.
• Confirm understanding of the brief
• Visible timer set for 3 minutes each round, after which, reject balloons that don't match the prototype (The majority in the 1st round won't due to being too small, eyes / nose / mouth not correctly sized)
• Record the number of successful balloons having been created per team each round and ensure this is visible to all
• Allow time for the teams to have a retrospective after sprint and identify areas of improvement
• Observe results, and discuss learnings with the group afterwards, prompting if needed for what's missing (Acceptance criteria, automation, customers views)

Sprint 1

• Very little input provided by product owner accept the outcome of producing the balloon
• Make it known that the customer and product owner roles are being played during the game
• Prompt during discussions at end if needed that acceptance criteria may be needed

Sprint 2

• Ensure acceptance criteria for product is visible and understood
• Velocity will likely slip here as teams begin developing automation. Remind them that this is perfectly acceptable and is an investment in better quality and performance in future sprints
• Allow time for the teams to have a retrospective after sprint and identify areas of improvement

Sprint 3

• Don't change any requirements but challenge the teams to improve on their previous rounds performance
• Velocity may begin to increase here as teams become better at producing the balloons, using their automation methods to 'unit test' the product before demonstration
• Allow time for the teams to have a retrospective after sprint and identify areas of improvement

Sprint 4

• Product owner opens discussion with customer, informing teams that we've learned of new customer needs. The product should have hair! A minimum of two, equally length strands.
• Velocity again may take a hit with the introduction of the new requirement but again, explain that this is expected and normal
• Allow time for the group to discuss learnings / observations from having played the game

Themes covered

• Inspecting and adapting - Teams were given time to retrospect between sprints
• Experimentation and failing fast - Teams were given an outcome and were required to demonstrate the product at the end of each sprint, with product owner accepting or rejecting
• Importance of acceptance criteria, automation and their impact on quality
• Collaboration and teamwork

Observations

• At the end of the first sprint, when the majority of the balloons presented had been rejected and ceremoniously popped by the product owner, teams observed that they were missing acceptance criteria, a key input to enable them to understand the boundaries for their testing.
• In sprint 2, having been provided with clear acceptance criteria, during the sprint teams began investing time in automating ways to test their balloons were going to meet the acceptance criteria using string and paper. This resulted in a further decrease in velocity.
• With no additional requirements added in sprint 3 and the teams beginning to recognise who was better at which task whilst also beginning to benefit from some of the automation methods they'd created; velocity and quality of the balloons began to pick up.
• In the 4th and final sprint with the new requirement shared by the customer, teams began to probe further to clarify acceptance criteria. These learnings from the customer adjusted the acceptance criteria for the teams and ensured focus on adapting to the needs of the customer.
• Teams were informed before sprint 1 that I, the facilitator would be acting in the product owner role, and Heather in the customer role. During the sprint, nobody attempted to engage either of us to verify what we were looking for from the product.
• Visibly sharing the scores for each team, referencing to and updating this at the end of each round created a sense of competition between which kept things engaging.