TEAMWORK BACKLOGS - brianschrank.com · teamwork & backlogs game capstone – winter 2014 brian schrank – depaul university

TEAMWORK & BACKLOGS GAME CAPSTONE – WINTER 2014

BRIAN SCHRANK – DEPAUL UNIVERSITY

MEET TOGETHER AT LEAST FOUR TIMES / WEEK

Two classes / week Two meetings / week outside of class

SCRUM 4X WEEK 1.  What did you do since last meeting? 2.  What are you doing today? 3.  What will you complete by next meeting?

4.  What will block or might block you from doing that?

CHECK IN WITH EACH

OTHER EVERY DAY Skype Google Chat

BACKLOGS

BUILD YOUR BACKLOG Create user stories for all of the major aspects of the game. User stories are structured like this:

•  As <user type> I want <some goal> so that <some reason>.

Make a list of these for all areas of the game.

•  Art •  Play •  Code •  Interface •  Sound

ORDER AND PRIORITIZE BACKLOG

Gather •  All of the user stories that participants have created.

Categorize

•  Use a spreadsheet or database

Prioritize •  A good way to prioritize is to use PLANNING POKER

PLANNING POKER

1.  Each team separates into estimators and one moderator 2.  Moderator reads the description of a user story. The

moderator answers brief questions from the estimators. 3.  Every estimator writes one of the following numbers:

0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40, or 100 (estimated days to complete) on a scrap of paper and places it face down on the table in front of them.

4.  After all estimates are in, all scraps are flipped over.

5.  If the estimates vary widely, the owners of the high and low estimates discuss the reasons why their estimates are so different. All estimators should participate in the discussion.

6.  Repeat from step 5 until the estimates converge.

COMPILE SCORES

After the planning poker you’ll have a bunch of stories with estimates associated with them. Review the new list with the estimates attached. Low numbers are easy to get done.

High numbers are points of concern because of the work involved.

RISK VS. REWARD

Now look at your current list with the estimates Go over this list, keeping the estimates in mind. Rate each story by comparing their RISK vs. their REWARD

RISK HIGH RISK Takes a lot of time to do/Can take a long time to balance and may break a lot of your game. May not be doable in the current time frame. Has too many dependencies MEDIUM RISK Takes a moderate amount of time to get done. Needs some balancing. Has a few dependencies but they’re low risk/low score LOW RISK Can be done relatively quickly, has no real dependencies, can be balanced or disabled without affecting the rest of the game

REWARD HIGH REWARD This is a big win for the game and would make it an overall better experience for the player. MEDIUM REWARD

This has the potential to make the game better but it may not be immediately visible to the player. LOW REWARD

This might be nice to have but it doesn’t significantly affect the game experience.

REVIEW 1.  Weigh the risk vs. the reward for each user story. 2.  Discuss all of the stories so the team gets a sense of

what is important and what is not. 3.  Order your backlog accordingly.

4.  Assign tasks to each team member.

ASSIGN TASKS IN BACKLOG SOFTWARE

CHECK IN WITH EACH

OTHER EVERY DAY Skype Google Chat