Studies show that 87% of companies leverage Scrum for delivering complex development projects. And a crucial part of implementing Scrum is refining the product backlog.
It is a continuous process that involves reviewing, updating, and organizing each user story and priority task to ensure that it remains relevant and up-to-date. However, accurately estimating user stories requires additional research.
This is where spikes come in.
Spikes in Scrum is a time-boxed exploration of a technical problem or a specific question that helps the product owner and the development team uncover more information about a particular issue. The goal of the entire process is to provide a better understanding of the problem so they can make informed decisions and ensure that things remain on track.
In this guide, you will learn everything about Agile Spikes, how they work, their types, and their benefits to help you refine the product backlog and enhance product delivery.
Although most people think that spikes typically involve researching and experimenting with a technical or design problem, it has other use cases also. For instance, it can also help with prototyping or risk assessment.
Here are some scenarios where Agile teams may consider using spikes:
Now that we have considered various use cases of spikes in Scrum. Let’s discover how you can make it work:
While teams can initiate spikes for in-depth solution research of any problem, there are two popular spike types.
A technical spike focuses on investigating and experimenting with new technologies or solutions. The goal is to identify the best approach to solve a specific problem and estimate the effort required to implement it. They are ideal for projects that require adopting new technologies.
Here are some instances where you can use technical spikes in Scrum:
Unlike technical spikes that help with the project’s technical aspects, functional spikes are concerned with improving the overall efficiency to reduce time-to-market. It involves gathering information, researching alternatives, and understanding the stakeholder’s needs. They reduce ambiguity about the project and ensure that everything aligns with the business objectives.
Functional spikes can help the development team:
Epics, user stories, and spikes are the tools that help product owners, Scrum Masters, and the development team organize work and respond to changes. By understanding how these popular terms work, you can structure the entire project, right from the most critical objectives to the most minute detail.
Here is a list showcasing the differences between epics, user stories, and spikes to help you make an informed decision.
Epics | User Stories | Spikes | |
Scope | These are high-level user requirements that can be broken down into user stories. | These are short descriptions of a feature or functionality that provides value to the end user. | These involve researching user stories from a functional or technical aspect. |
Perspective | They are user-focused. | They are typically written from the user’s perspective and provide a clear understanding of what needs to be delivered. | They are not user-focussed. It revolves around addressing a design or technical challenge. |
Duration | There is no designated period. It typically takes multiple iterations to complete epics in Agile. | It takes two to three weeks to complete user stories. | Spikes typically take 2-3 days to complete. |
Want to know more about how to estimate user stories? Read this guide to make Agile planning more flexible.
A concept adapted from Extreme Programming (XP), spikes are critical for product backlog refinement and accelerating the project’s pace. Here are the best practices you can follow while using Agile spikes.
Agile spikes can have a significant impact on the overall success of your sprint. They allow you to test new ideas, experiment with different approaches, and pivot quickly if necessary, creating a flexible and iterative development process. It also helps your team understand where they should spend their time and how to make progress on many competing priorities.
While spikes accelerate the product delivery pipeline, having a structured process is vital. And if you need help implementing Agile practices, we can help.
Our Scrum and SAFe training courses include training by industry experts to help your team gain knowledge about the best SAFe and Scrum concepts, processes, and tools.
Key features of our training programs:
If you’d like, we can schedule a quick call to discuss more on this. Feel free to reach out here.
Spike is a time-boxed exploration of a technical problem that helps the product owner uncover more information about a particular issue.
You can use spikes to understand the viability of a user story, gain insights about a specific question or address an issue.
Agile spikes are a type of enabler story that represents activities such as exploration, research, design, implementation, and prototyping. They both may look similar, but enablers usually have a broader scope.
One of the benefits of spikes is that it is versatile and can be used across every Agile framework, including Scrum, SAFe, extreme programming (XP), and even Kanban. You can use the same steps to calculate spikes and track them in Jira.
In today's challenging job market, marked by layoffs, budget cuts, and recession fears, workers under…
The introduction of the Hybrid Cloud in 2011 revolutionized global businesses that solely depended on…
SaaS companies typically operate on a subscription model, which makes their sales cycle more intricate…
For years, companies across industries have been adopting Agile approaches for greater adaptability and speed.…
The race to become future-ready is critical as organizations stand to gain 1.7x higher efficiency…
Having a worldwide adoption of 87 percent, Scrum has unlocked a powerful way for companies…
This website uses cookies.