
User Stories and Tasks – Part 2
Estimating Agile Tasks
In Scrum, a list of user stories is produced and put together to form a product backlog, and each of these user stories will need to be estimated to work out how many of these stories can be worked on during a given iteration. One of the responsibilities of the Scrum Master is to act as the facilitator in the estimation of the size of each piece of work.
The Use of Story Points
Story point estimation is different from the traditional method of sizing a piece of work based on the number of hours it will take. Instead, the estimate is derived from the complexity of the functionality being produced, and the figure assigned is based on the relative size and difficulty when compared to other user stories. The reason for this is that there are many variables that could have an impact on the amount of time that a piece of work takes to complete, such as the level of experience of the developer.
The How and Why of Story Points
Story points are important because they give a clearer picture of the size and complexity of a piece of work than the estimation of time required that is used in a waterfall life-cycle. They help the Scrum Master to work out the velocity (the number of story points that can be delivered in a single iteration) of the team. Using story points gives the Scrum Master a tangible representation of what they are dealing with. It also allows them to gauge how things are progressing when updates are given by each team member during the daily stand-up, and to keep a close eye on any of the more complex stories in order to resolve any issues early on.
59 Seconds Training Video
Master of Agile – Scrum Product Owner With 59 Seconds Agile (Video Training Course)
Introductory Offer: Free Course
What is this course?
This ‘Master of Agile – Scrum Product Owner With 59 Seconds Agile (Video Training Course)’ provides an in-depth understanding of the Scrum Product Owner roles and responsibilities
You will explore the Agile Scrum project life-cycle, including how an Agile User Story is created, to how we know when it is ‘done’
This course is aimed at those with or without prior knowledge and experience of the Agile values and principles
During this course you will learn the tools needed to succeed as a Scrum Product Owner
What will you learn?
You will gain an in-depth understanding of the Scrum Product Owner roles and responsibilities, and you will be able to
- Fully understand the role of the Scrum Product Owner
- Understand the roles involved in an Agile project
- Create an effective Product Backlog
- Effectively participate in Scrum Meetings such as the Daily Stand-up, Sprint Review and Retrospective
- Identify the roles involves in the Scrum Team

What topics are covered within this course?
You will cover the following topics during this course:
- An Introduction to Agile Project Management (Product Owner)
- The 12 Agile Principles (Product Owner)
- The Declaration of Interdependence (Product Owner)
- Introduction to Scrum (Product Owner)
- Scrum Project Roles (Product Owner)
- The Agile Project Life-cycle (Product Owner)
- Acceptance Criteria and the Prioritised Product Backlog (Product Owner)
- Epics and Personas (Product Owner)
- Sprint Planning (Product Owner)
- User Stories (Product Owner)
- The Daily Scrum (Product Owner)
- The Product Backlog (Product Owner)
- Scrum Charts (Product Owner)
- Review and Retrospective (Product Owner)
- Validating a Sprint (Product Owner)
- Releasing the Product (Product Owner)
Our Book Recommendations
We found these books great for finding out more information on Agile Scrum: