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Re: Top-down User Stories
by William Pietri
::
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Great question, Jana. I'm sure there will be a variety of opinions, but
here's my take.
This is not a bad way to start, and you can always do some of it, but if
this is the only way stories get written, you'll be missing some
opportunities.
In my view, good Agile teams have tight feedback loops, distributed
power, shared responsibility, and collaborative innovation. If followed
literally, this top-down flow you describe doesn't really have any of those.
Whatever approach you take, make sure from the start you have a way to
close the open feedback loop you've described. If you are assiduous in
that, your team can probably work the rest out over time. You can reduce
that amount of time through things like shortening iterations, releasing
more often, having a clear project charter, increasing the volume and
clarity of real-world data on product impact, and using an experienced
agile coach.
Hoping that helps,
William
Jana Jecmen wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> My company is developing the strategy for going Agile. Here is how we
> plan to maintain the Backlog:
>
> * product management should specify a "theme",
> * product owner should write User Stories for it,
> * developers should estimate them and eventually split them into
> tasks.
>
> This strategy is believed to give us a framework to stay on track and
> to deliver what product management wants.
>
> Did anybody apply a similar top-down approach in practice?
>
> I like this strategy, but I have a nagging suspicion that this is not
> an Agile methodology. Shouldn't the User Stories be created in
> a bottom-up fashion in Agile?
>
> I would appreciate your comments. Thanks,
>
> Jana
>
>
>
here's my take.
This is not a bad way to start, and you can always do some of it, but if
this is the only way stories get written, you'll be missing some
opportunities.
In my view, good Agile teams have tight feedback loops, distributed
power, shared responsibility, and collaborative innovation. If followed
literally, this top-down flow you describe doesn't really have any of those.
Whatever approach you take, make sure from the start you have a way to
close the open feedback loop you've described. If you are assiduous in
that, your team can probably work the rest out over time. You can reduce
that amount of time through things like shortening iterations, releasing
more often, having a clear project charter, increasing the volume and
clarity of real-world data on product impact, and using an experienced
agile coach.
Hoping that helps,
William
Jana Jecmen wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> My company is developing the strategy for going Agile. Here is how we
> plan to maintain the Backlog:
>
> * product management should specify a "theme",
> * product owner should write User Stories for it,
> * developers should estimate them and eventually split them into
> tasks.
>
> This strategy is believed to give us a framework to stay on track and
> to deliver what product management wants.
>
> Did anybody apply a similar top-down approach in practice?
>
> I like this strategy, but I have a nagging suspicion that this is not
> an Agile methodology. Shouldn't the User Stories be created in
> a bottom-up fashion in Agile?
>
> I would appreciate your comments. Thanks,
>
> Jana
>
>
>
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