If you aren’t familiar with the agile framework for project management (and even if you are), you may feel like reading about the subject is like reading about something in a mix of English and a totally different language. I’m here to help. Use this glossary as a reference to make sense of the terms specific to the agile methodology.
Definition of Done (DoD): The definition of done is a set of criteria that must be met in order for a product increment to be considered done. The team should agree on their definition of done at the beginning of a project and display the definition of done in a prominent fashion wherever the team is located. For example, a software development team’s definition of done might include that the feature is designed, developed, tested, and any bugs identified are remediated before the feature is considered complete.
Product Backlog: A list of all work to be completed for a given project, ordered in terms of priority. Often comprised of user stories.
Product Backlog Item (PBI): The various items that make up the product backlog. Each product backlog item should be a small enough slice of work that it can be completed by a scrum team within one sprint iteration and still meet the definition of done.
Product Increment: The product increment includes the product backlog items completed during a sprint. The product increment is what is delivered at a sprint review meeting and accepted or rejected by the product owner.
Product Owner: The product owner is an individual person who is responsible for driving the return on investment generated by a particular product. They are responsible for setting the product vision, prioritizing the product backlog, and accepting or rejecting product increments.
Scrum Master: The scrum master is the person responsible for facilitating the scrum process, helping the scrum team to self-organize, and removes impediments to keep progress moving on agile projects.
Sprint: A pre-defined time box in which the scrum team commits to completing a product increment. Sprints are typically between two weeks and 30 days in length.
Sprint Backlog: The prioritized list of product backlog items that will be completed in the current sprint.
Story Points: Used to measure the perceived effort required to complete a product backlog item. Story points are assigned on a relative scale based on level of difficulty or complexity of a PBI. Scrum teams typically use the Fibonacci scale to assign story points.
User Story: A form of requirements documentation typically used in agile projects. User stories describe requirements from an end-user perspective, describing type of user affected, what they need, and why they need it.
Velocity: How many product backlog items a particular team can complete in one sprint. Teams typically use story points to determine how many points in total a team can complete in a single sprint. After the first few sprints, velocity can be calculated and used in sprint planning meetings to determine sprint scope.
The Netrix Custom Application Development team is committed to the agile methodology for software development as an iterative approach. Every step of the way, the Netrix team shares and demonstrates progress to keep clients involved in the development of an application. This results in a continuous build of the application in a usable form, allowing clients to realize value sooner. Contact us today for more information.
Written by Kim Nelson, Netrix
