Back to Forum

Large User Stories

Last post 07:38 pm August 2, 2016 by Ian Mitchell
2 replies
Rammohan Banda
11:45 am August 2, 2016

What if there is a there comes a user story Identified which cannot be developed as a usable component in a single sprint? I can see some of the options as below but just thinking which could be the best option.

1. Dividing the User Stories into smaller one. But i feel this doesn't make sense b'cause each of those smaller one doesn't provide any Usable Output during the sprint.

2. Drop all the other user stories in the sprint and applying all the development efforts to complete this single implementation.

3. Development of the Story started but not included in the goal, so that this can be carry forwarded to the next few sprint to plan to have a usable output in the coming sprint.

Thanks,
Rammohan B.

Timothy Baffa
04:02 pm August 2, 2016

Scrum: easy to learn, very difficult to practice correctly.

You start with an incorrect assumption: that you have a user story that cannot fit into a single sprint.

Splitting stories is an art unto itself, and is difficult to learn. Do not take your inability to split the story and conclude that it cannot be split.

Also, splitting is not dividing. There is simply no value in cutting up a story into smaller pieces that are all still dependent upon one another.

There is no magic formula, although there are plenty of guidelines out there:

http://agileforall.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Story-Splitting-Flowc…

http://blogs.adobe.com/agile/2013/09/27/splitting-stories-into-small-ve…

Some context around the story may help with a splitting discussion in this forum, but I would personally veto all three of your initial suggestions for mitigating a large story.

Ian Mitchell
07:38 pm August 2, 2016

> What if there is a there comes a user story Identified which
> cannot be developed as a usable component in a single sprint?

Then the Development Team should not plan it into their Sprint Backlog. They are under no obligation to accept it. The Product Owner must articulate smaller backlog items which *do* provide value to stakeholders and which the Development Team believe they can action. The team can help the PO to do this during Product Backlog Refinement.

By posting on our forums you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.

Please note that the first and last name from your Scrum.org member profile will be displayed next to any topic or comment you post on the forums. For privacy concerns, we cannot allow you to post email addresses. All user-submitted content on our Forums may be subject to deletion if it is found to be in violation of our Terms of Use. Scrum.org does not endorse user-submitted content or the content of links to any third-party websites.

Terms of Use

Scrum.org may, at its discretion, remove any post that it deems unsuitable for these forums. Unsuitable post content includes, but is not limited to, Scrum.org Professional-level assessment questions and answers, profanity, insults, racism or sexually explicit content. Using our forum as a platform for the marketing and solicitation of products or services is also prohibited. Forum members who post content deemed unsuitable by Scrum.org may have their access revoked at any time, without warning. Scrum.org may, but is not obliged to, monitor submissions.