Helena LiuFounder & CEO, Product Camps · AI and Automations | CEO @ Product Camps

What are story points? #projectmanagement #projectmanagementtips #projectmanagementtutorial

3 Jun 2024 · 1 min

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The video explains that story points are a relative measure of a user story's complexity, effort, and risk, contrasting them with absolute time estimates like hours or days. Teams assign story points using a predefined scale, commonly the Fibonacci sequence (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, …), where higher numbers indicate greater effort and uncertainty. An example illustrates a login page rated at 3 points and a user profile page, being roughly twice as complex, rated at 6 points. The speaker argues that story points are preferred over time estimates because they capture uncertainties and provide a more holistic view of task demands, helping teams compare work sizes across the backlog.

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Story points represent the complexity, effort, and risk associated with completing a user story. Unlike hours or days, which are absolute measures, story points are relative. They help teams gauge the size of a task in comparison to other tasks. So how do story points work? Teams use a predefined scale such as the Fibonacci sequence to assign points based on the effort and complexity involved. The numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, etc. A task with a story point of 1 is the simplest, while a task with a higher number like 8 requires more effort. For example, if creating a login page is rated as 3 story points and designing a user profile page is considered twice as complex, it might be rated as 6 story points. But why use story points instead of time? They account for uncertainties and offer a more holistic view of the task's demands.