Estimation Techniques: Story Points and Ideal Time Guide
Why it is Important:
Estimation Techniques: Story Points and Ideal Time is an important topic in agile project management particularly for the PMI-ACP (Project Management Institute-Agile Certified Practitioner) exam. Accurate estimation is vital for planning, scheduling and budgeting in Agile Project Management. Story Points and Ideal Time are two measurement units used in Agile Estimation.
What it is:
Estimation Techniques: Story Points and Ideal Time are Agile estimation techniques. Story points are an arbitrary measure used by Agile teams to determine the size of user stories, features, or other pieces of work based on its difficulty, complexity, and unknowns. Ideal time is the time a task would take if there were no interruptions and everything went according to plan.
How it Works:
Agile teams use Story Points to estimate the size of a piece of work. Each Story Point represents a combination of difficulty, complexity, and unknowns. Ideal Time, on the other hand, estimates the time a task would take in a perfect world, with no interruptions or problems. It's important to note that 'Ideal Time' is not actual 'Elapsed Time'.
Exam Tips:
When answering questions on Estimation Techniques: Story Points and Ideal Time, remember:
1. Story Points are relative, not absolute measures. They compare one piece of work to another,
2. Ideal Time represents 'no-interruption' scenario and is not actual 'elapsed time', always keep this distinction in mind,
3. Use of historical data can help in estimating Story Points and Ideal Time,
4. Always read the question carefully to understand whether it's asking about Story Points, Ideal Time or other aspects of Agile Estimation.