It’s the beginning of a new project and you’re ready to start building some software. But which stories should you start with and why? We’ll start the session by teaching you some strategies for identifying your first horizontal application slice. We’ll also cover how an MVP may or may not be relevant to your project (“My client doesn’t need a thermal detonator, they need a completed Death Star”). In the remainder of the session you’ll get a chance to practice identifying your first slice based on a sample user story map.

2. @SRogalsky
WinnipegAgilist@blogspot.com
Steve.Rogalsky@protegra.com
Steve Rogalsky

3. Tom DeMarco

4. Incremental
Iterative
http://blog.crisp.se/2016/01/25/henrikkniberg/making-sen

6. Incremental
Iterative
http://blog.crisp.se/2016/01/25/henrikkniberg/making-sen
“Deliver the smallest thing you
can think of that will get the
customer testing things and
giving us feedback” - Henrik

7. Iterative
1 2 3 4 5
Credit: Jeff Patton
Incremental

13. This type of iterative approach enables
you to deliver value early and often

14. Some examples

15. Example: Objective vs. Subjective
Quality

16. Release 1: Single, No kids, Dental Coverage Only, no Life & Disability
Example: By market segment

17. Example: Mobile Conference
App

18. Example: Blue Canvas Payroll

19. Example: TheLocalFrequency.com

20. Example: Leasing System
“You can’t terminate a lease
until you can create one”

21. Example: Wizard of Oz

22. I have a great idea!
• Review the materials
• Designate one or more product owner(s) in
your group
• Copy the first 2 rows of the story map (next
slide…)
“I have a great idea!”Your Turn!

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Your (draft) User Story Map

24. Finding your first slice

25. Feature Mining
Jobs Value Size
Risk
Uncertainty
Credit: Feature Mining by Richard Lawrence (modified slightly)

26. Jobs
• What job(s) is your product being hired for?
Jobs Value Size
Risk
Uncertainty
Credit: Feature Mining by Richard Lawrence (modified slightly)

27. Value?
• Where is the value in this application?
• Why is this worth doing?
• How can we make money?
Jobs Value Size
Risk
Uncertainty
Credit: Feature Mining by Richard Lawrence (modified slightly)

28. Size
• What makes this big?
• “Why isn’t this something we could just knock
out in an afternoon”?
Jobs Value Size
Risk
Uncertainty
Credit: Feature Mining by Richard Lawrence (modified slightly)

29. Risk
• What parts keep you up at night?
• Where could this fail?
• Where is the technical risk?
Jobs Value Size
Risk
Uncertainty
Credit: Feature Mining by Richard Lawrence (modified slightly)

30. Uncertainty
• Where is the uncertainty?
• What assumptions are we making?
• What do we need to learn?
Jobs Value Size
Risk
Uncertainty
Credit: Feature Mining by Richard Lawrence (modified slightly)

31. Prioritize
Jobs Value Size
Risk
Uncertainty
Credit: Feature Mining by Richard Lawrence (modified slightly)

32. Brainstorm
• Generate options: What could your
skateboard be??
Jobs Value Size
Risk
Uncertainty
Credit: Feature Mining by Richard Lawrence (modified slightly)

33. Agileforall.com/course/8020-product-ownership
CODE: STEVESENTME = 10% discount

34. In Closing
To find your first slice:
- Generate the skeleton of your
Story Map
- Consider Together:
- Jobs, Value, Size, Risk, &
Uncertainty
@Srogalsky & @protegra
WinnipegAgilist@blogspot.com
Steve.Rogalsky@protegra.com
Steve Rogalsky
Thanks!
Questions?
http://www.slideshare.net/SteveRogalsky/story-maps-episode-iv-a-new-slice

35. A final example

36. Credits
• User Story mapping:
– http://winnipegagilist.blogspot.ca/2012/03/how-to-create-user-story-map.html
• Tom DeMarco quote & article:
– https://www.computer.org/cms/Computer.org/ComputingNow/homepage/2009/0709/rW_SO_Viewpoints.pdf
• Making sense of MVP (Henrik Kniberg)
– http://blog.crisp.se/2016/01/25/henrikkniberg/making-sense-of-mvp
• Feature Mining:
– Richard Lawrence: http://agileforall.com/course/8020-product-ownership/
• Other interesting links
– "How Thin is Thin?" An Example of Effective Story Slicing (Dave Rooney):
http://blog.daverooney.ca/2014/08/how-thin-is-thin-example-of-effective.html
– How to split a user story (Richard Lawrence):
http://agileforall.com/resources/how-to-split-a-user-story/
• Images:
– Death Star: http://www.starwars.com
– Thermal Detonator: http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars
– Wizard of Oz:
https://theyellowbrickroadfreeblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/wizardofoz_4675.jp
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