What Are Story Points?
Story points are a unit of measure for the relative effort required to complete a user story, capturing complexity, uncertainty, and volume of work.
Story Points vs Time Estimates
Time estimates invite false precision and create accountability traps. Story points embrace uncertainty and normalize across team changes.
Popular Story Point Scales
Fibonacci sequence, T-shirt sizes, and Powers of 2 are the most common scales used by agile teams.
How to Estimate as a Team
Establish a baseline, compare stories relatively, vote simultaneously using planning poker, and discuss disagreements.
When Story Points Go Wrong
Don't treat points as hours, compare teams by velocity, or use points for individual performance evaluation.
Best Practices
Re-calibrate regularly, break down large stories, track velocity not accuracy, and include the whole team.