Module 2 of 2 · 40 minutes
Stories, estimation and making work visible
By the end of this module you will be able to
- Write a user story that is about a user rather than a task in costume
- Split work small enough to flow without losing its meaning
- Use estimation for conversation and forecasting, not for pressure
- Read a board and see where work is actually stuck
Work through it
1 interactive for this module, built on the WAJD Teach engine. Nothing moves until you ask it to, and every one has a written version if you would rather read it.
Amara Our stories all read: as a developer I want to refactor the module so that the module is refactored.
Nadia Which is a task in a costume, and everybody can see the costume. The story format exists for one purpose: keeping the user in the sentence.
Amara So what do I do with technical work?
Nadia Call it a task and let it be one. Forcing it into the format teaches the whole team that the format is a joke, and then the real stories get written as jokes too.
Amara What makes a story real?
Nadia Two tests. Can you name the person, specifically, not users in general. And would that person recognise the so that clause as something they actually want?
Amara Why does the so that clause matter so much?
Nadia Because it is the outcome the work will be judged against. Lose it and you are back to shipping output and hoping.
Amara Acceptance criteria?
Nadia The story's contract. Testable statements that would convince a sceptic it is done. A user can complete the referral in under two minutes without training is a criterion. It should work properly is a wish.
Amara Our items sit at ninety per cent done for weeks.
Nadia Ninety per cent done is not a measurement, it is a mood. The only states that mean anything are done and not done, which is the entire argument for small items.
Amara How do I split big things without losing the point of them?
Nadia By outcome slice, never by architectural layer. A thin slice that lets one real user complete one real journey beats a finished database layer nobody can touch, because the slice ships and teaches you something.
Amara And if something will not split below two weeks?
Nadia That is almost always a sign it is not understood yet. The split to make is a discovery task: spend two days finding out what it actually is.
Amara Estimation. Our velocity is now a KPI.
Nadia Then your velocity is now fiction. The moment the number becomes a target, it inflates, and once it inflates it forecasts nothing. That is not a moral failing, it is what happens to every measure that becomes a target.
Amara So what are estimates for?
Nadia Two things. Forecasting roughly when things land. And forcing the conversation, which is worth more than the number.
Amara The conversation?
Nadia One person says two, another says thirteen. The gap is the finding. They are imagining different work, and discovering that in planning costs an hour. Discovering it in production costs a month.
Amara Last one. Our board has ten things in progress for four people.
Nadia Then everything is being juggled and nothing is finishing. Limit work in progress. And when something is blocked, swarm it, do not start something new, because starting new work is how blocked work becomes furniture.
Amara Is there one question that cuts through?
Nadia In every stand up: what is the oldest item on this board, and what would finish it today? Ask that daily and the board fixes itself within a month.
The written material
A story is a need, not a task in costume
The story format, as a person I want something so that outcome, exists to keep the user in the sentence. It gets abused into tasks wearing a costume: as a developer I want to refactor the database so that the database is refactored.
That is not a story, and it does not need to be. Technical work can be a plain task; forcing it into the format teaches everybody the format is a joke.
The two tests of a real story: can you name the person, specifically, and would they recognise the so that clause as something they want? And the so that clause is the important part, because it is the outcome the work will be judged against.
Acceptance criteria are the story's contract: testable statements that would convince a sceptic it is done. It should work properly is not a criterion.
Splitting, and why smaller flows
Large items sit for weeks looking ninety per cent done, which is a phrase that means nothing. Small items finish, and finishing is where the feedback and the value live.
Split by outcome slice, not by architectural layer. A thin slice that lets one real user complete one real journey end to end beats a completed database layer that nobody can use, because the slice can be shipped, tested and learned from.
Useful splits: by user type, by the simplest case first with exceptions later, by manual before automated, by read before write. If an item cannot be split below a fortnight of work, that is usually a sign it is not understood yet, and the split to make is a discovery task.
Estimation without theatre, and reading the board
Estimates are for two things: forcing the conversation that surfaces misunderstanding, and forecasting roughly when things will land. They are not a performance target, and the moment velocity becomes a KPI, the numbers inflate and the forecast dies.
The conversation is worth more than the number. When one person says two and another says thirteen, the gap is the finding: they are imagining different work, and it is far cheaper to discover that now.
On the board, the disease is work in progress. Ten items in progress across four people means everything is being juggled and nothing is finishing. Limit work in progress, and when something is blocked, swarm it rather than starting something new, because starting new work is how blocked work becomes normal.
Read the board by asking one question in stand up: what is the oldest item here, and what would finish it today?
Knowledge check
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