| kk_oop@yahoo.com 2006-04-21, 7:02 pm |
| We started tracking story points about 3 months ago. Our points are
just based on relative value. We make no attempt to say they are
"ideal days" or "effort days", etc. We just say if task C is 4 points,
and task D is twice as complex, then task D gets 8 points. We then
track our velocity as points completed every two w s.
Here's a question about that. Let's say early on, task A was assigned
8 points. Now, three months later, a task of similar functional
complexity comes up--let's call it task B. However, now we are smarter
about our process, test driven development, etc. So while the
functional complexity of A and B are the same, the complexity coming
from getting used to the process and TDD techniques does not apply to
B. So do we still make B 8 points based on its functional complexity?
Or do we make it something like 5 points to account for the team's
increased ability to do TDD and the rest of our process?
It would seem like leaving B 8 would cause our velocity to increase,
which would make sense, since we are being more productive. However, 8
seems no longer to accurately reflect the task's complexity since we
are smarter now. But if we make B 5, that would not show that our
velocity has increased--and it may make it seem like B is functionally
simpler than A.
So the bottom line question is--what should influence points assigned
to a task? Just functional complexity? Or should team profficiency be
considered as well?
Thanks for any input!
Ken
|