Structured Story Points aim to bring clarity to estimation by focusing on effort, complexity, uncertainty, and collaboration in engineering work.
It emphasizes the importance of understanding the context behind estimates, moving away from just assigning numbers to considering complexity, uncertainty, and collaboration factors.
Estimation breakdown is attributed to the lack of structure in reasoning about the work, where story points have turned into disconnected numbers rather than meaningful indicators.
Structured Story Points replace guesswork with a structured approach, where teams answer four clear questions regarding effort, complexity, uncertainty, and collaboration to improve planning.
Effort, complexity, uncertainty, and collaboration are the four key dimensions considered in Structured Story Points for evaluating work tasks.
Effort is measured based on the focused, hands-on time required for the task, categorizing tasks into minimal, moderate, or painstaking levels.
Complexity assesses the cognitive and technical challenge of the work, distinguishing tasks as simple, layered, or convoluted based on reasoning difficulty.
Uncertainty evaluates the team's alignment in understanding the task, classifying tasks as clear, murky, or uncharted based on the level of clarity in requirements.
Collaboration measures the coordination needed to complete the task, considering solo, paired, cross-team, or external involvement.
Structured Story Points help teams have more accurate estimations, leading to predictable delivery, improved velocity, and strengthened trust between engineering teams and stakeholders.