The Art of Epic Writing
In the world of agile product development, an epic stands as a cornerstone, defining large bodies of work that can be broken down into smaller tasks or stories. This article aims to guide you through the process of creating the perfect epic, ensuring it effectively communicates intent and guides your team to success.
What is an Epic?
An epic is a high-level body of work that captures a significant goal or feature within a product. It's broader than a user story and often encompasses multiple sprints or development cycles. The key to a successful epic is its ability to outline a clear, achievable objective that aligns with the overall product strategy.
Key Elements of an Effective Epic:
Clear Objective: The epic should have a well-defined goal that is understood by all team members.
Broad Scope, But Well-Bounded: It should be broad enough to encompass multiple user stories, but not so vague that it becomes unmanageable. You don’t want to dictate everything that your colleagues need to work on but rather provide a clear destination.
Alignment with Product Vision: The epic must align with the overall product strategy and contribute to long-term goals.
Measurable Success Criteria: Define how the success of the epic will be measured. Remember, work doesn’t stop at the completion of an epic. Be clear on how you are tracking success and have an understanding on what the different outcomes could be and a plan for each.
Steps to Create a Perfect Epic:
Define the Goal: Start with a clear, concise statement that defines what the epic aims to achieve. I like to call this section “Overview”.
Breakdown into User Stories: Divide the epic into manageable user stories that provide clear steps for implementation. These will normally start with “As a user, I…”
List Epic Requirements: List out all requirements of the Epic. For front-end features think of this section as the part that design will be working from.
Key Metrics & Data Capture: As mentioned above, have a clear position for what success looks like for the epic and any additional work you need to do on the data side to track towards success.
Write out Acceptance Criteria: Think of this as the conditions that must be satisfied for an epic to be completed. It’s always a good idea to speak to any/all QA engineers to see what format they prefer these to be written in. I tend to go between bullet points and the GIVEN, WHEN, THEN format.
Engage Stakeholders: Once you have a going in position, if needed, collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the epic aligns with business needs and customer expectations.
Prioritize and Plan: Prioritize the user stories within the epic and plan their execution over multiple sprints.
Continuous Review and Adaptation: Regularly review the epic's progress and adapt as necessary to ensure alignment with changing needs and goals.
Best Practices:
Keep It Flexible: Be prepared to adjust the epic as new information and feedback become available.
Focus on Value Delivery: Ensure that every part of the epic delivers value to the customer or the business.
Encourage Team Collaboration: Foster a collaborative environment where team members can contribute ideas and feedback. Often, engineers will prefer to craft the stories and tasks themselves. Encourage what works best for the individual team mebers.
Document and Communicate: Keep a clear record of the epic and its elements, and ensure regular communication with all stakeholders.
Creating the perfect epic is a balancing act of clarity, foresight, and adaptability. By focusing on clear objectives, stakeholder alignment, and continuous refinement, you can ensure that your epic not only meets its goals but also contributes significantly to the success of your product.
For a more in depth overview of crating the perfect Epic check out Epic Alignment by Nils Janse
