Epics and user stories are the foundation of Agile development. In short, epic is a really big user story or requirement that has been broken into smaller pieces that can be estimated and implemented in deliverables from sprints. User stories are items on a product backlog that describe work to be done for a software project.
They’re usually written from the perspective of a user or customer. One key difference between an epic and a user story is the time frame: epics encompass multiple sprints, while user stories may be completed by one team in three days or three weeks.
Why three C’s for user stories?
The three C’s of user stories represent three key components that must exist for this type of requirement to work well in Scrum. A user story that does not have all three components is considered a poorly written user story and will drag down the velocity of a project.
1. Card: The three C’s for writing good user stories start with something tangible, the card. It’s recommended to write use cases on post-it notes or index cards. This serves two purposes: first, it arms team members who may need more details about the task at hand; second, it forces you to break your big idea into smaller pieces so you can properly estimate how much work is involved in completing the item within three weeks (or three days). It also allows you to keep epics separated from individual tasks so they stay manageable when it comes time to plan and monitor progress on the sprint.
2. Conversation: The three C’s for writing good user stories start with conversation and collaboration, not a blank screen and your favorite text editor (although that can work, too). When you sit down to talk about what is required of three weeks’ worth of work, the three C’s are to capture needs, clarify ambiguities, and create shared understanding.
3. Confirmation: The three C’s for writing good user stories consist of confirmation both during planning time and in real-time so everyone involved knows where things stand at all times. In the beginning, you’ll confirm whether this is something new or an extension of existing functionality so team members know what they’re working toward creating. During the three weeks, you’ll check in to confirm velocity and whether any changes need to be made. At the end of three weeks, you’ll confirm what was delivered against needs and iterate accordingly.
Other important features of user stories:
Constraints: You don’t get three C’s without three constraints: time, scope, and quality (in that order). These constrain how much can be done within three weeks; we focus on what we can do within these three weeks rather than splitting hairs overestimations and whether it should or shouldn’t take one week or another. By focusing on scope and quality, we make sure we deliver the highest value back to our users while also maintaining good code design principles.
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Communication: If there is no foundation, there is no building. Just like a three-legged stool is more stable than one with three legs of equal length, we share three roles in three weeks: the three C’s. One person owns and drives the product backlog to completion; one person designs and builds working software every day, and one person validates that what was built works for users by writing user stories.
Collaboration: We all sit together in an open space with three desks facing each other so that we can easily collaborate when necessary or provide instant feedback if something seems out of place or incorrect.
Rhythm: The three-week cycle makes it easy for everyone to know what they need to be doing within any given time period. By knowing what work we will be doing three weeks in advance, we can better prepare for what is to come.
Communication: We all speak the same language; we’ve created a standard (and open) vocabulary that makes it easy to communicate with anyone on the team about nearly anything related to our product and business.
Learning: The three Cs have enabled us to learn from one another so quickly and so deeply because no one has any fear of looking stupid or ignorant when asking a question or proposing a change. There’s no such thing as a dumb idea at three-week sprint reviews or user story workshops, which cultivates everyone’s engagement in both formal and informal learning opportunities throughout the day.
Resolutions: When problems do arise, three-week sprint reviews and user story workshops tend to resolve them quickly because the right people (including the customer and product owner) are involved.
Empowerment: three-week sprint reviews, user story workshops, and a three-c vocabulary empower everyone working on our product—especially those who don’t spend their days in front of the computer writing code—to provide meaningful input into decisions such as what to build next or what stories we should prioritize for backlog grooming.”
Three-week sprint reviews and user story workshops help to:
1. Keep the three Cs (Cost, Complexity, and Confidence) in check.
2. Allow developers time to fully understand stories.
3. Provide a means for the whole team to talk about customer value.
4. Empower everyone who needs input into what we build next.
5. Resolve issues quickly because people with the right context are involved.
Empowering non-technical stakeholders during three-week sprint reviews allows them to provide meaningful input into decisions such as what should be built next to and what stories we should prioritize for backlog grooming.