Story Estimation
Story estimation involves assigning a relative size to each story, allowing us to differentiate between smaller and easier stories with lower risks and larger, more complex stories that entail greater uncertainties. The larger stories not only take more time but also introduce higher variability, making it more challenging to achieve predictability in project timelines.
Typically, stories are assigned numeric values known as story points, which prove valuable when utilizing tools such as the burnup chart. However, it's important to recognize that story estimates should be considered as low-fidelity approximations, and teams often opt for simpler representations such as t-shirt sizes (e.g., small, medium, or extra-large) to replace numeric estimates.
These estimates play a pivotal role in planning discussions and serve as the foundation for various essential metrics and techniques, including burnup charts, burndown charts, velocity calculations, and more.