Functional Size Measurement in Agile Development: Velocity in Agile Sprints

Abstract

Agile teams measure their velocity for performance, based on Story Points. However, such velocity does not allow predicting when the product will be finished. Story points measure effort only. They do not discriminate between creating functionality and other tasks. Non-functional requirements, such as agreeing with stakeholders, designing, testing, or documenting, consume effort but do not add functionality. Thus, it remains unclear whether the product makes any progress, or the team is just looping around technical debt and unclear requirements. Euro Project Office has therefore developed a method how to complement a product backlog by functional size, indicating progress and completeness in unambiguous terms. The method is based on the international standard ISO/IEC 14143 [1] and ISO/IEC 19761 [2]. Tools are available as open source and can be used by development teams with minimum investment into training. Aim of This Tutorial: This tutorial teaches participants how to set up a model of the software under development according to ISO/IEC 19761, using an open-source Excel-based tool, and how to measure function size during several sprints. Participants are expected to have experience with agile software development but need no previous knowledge of the standards mentioned above.