Final answer:
Estimating Story point size should consider factors such as Complexity and Number of days it will take, rather than Team size or Priority. A proper estimation involves analyzing relevant task elements, creating visual representations like timelines, scaling known sizes, and quantitatively evaluating each aspect to assign a value to its importance.
Step-by-step explanation:
When estimating Story point size, it is important to contemplate various factors that might influence the estimate. Here are some considerations:
- Complexity - The difficulty of the task, which involves how much effort, resources, and time it might require to complete.
- Team size - While not directly a factor in story points, understanding the capabilities of your team can impact your ability to estimate Complexity accurately.
- Number of days it will take - Time can be a consideration, but it's important to differentiate story points from time estimates. Story points reflect the effort required, not the calendar time it takes to complete a task.
- Priority - While this does not influence the size of a story point, it may affect the order in which tasks are tackled.
To practice the art of estimation effectively, you should:
- Identify all relevant elements of the task.
- Create a visual representation, such as a timeline, to understand the sequence and dependencies of events.
- Use known sizes to estimate larger or smaller sizes through scaling and benchmarking (e.g., performing estimations by visualizing objects or tasks in terms of more familiar units).
- Consider exploring educational tools like PhET Explorations for improving estimation skills in various dimensions.
- Examine each factor and assign a numeric value to gauge its relevance to your situation.
Remembering some basic length scales and employing them in estimations can be incredibly helpful. When in doubt, break down a big problem into smaller, more manageable pieces to estimate the whole.