Why aren’t user stories simply estimated in person-hours?
Estimating user stories in person-hours is rarely a good idea. It intentionally diverts the emphasis away from the true purpose of the estimation process: to create a shared understanding of the task ahead among all members of the Scrum Team. Ergo, the estimate itself is just a by-product.
Estimating is often tricky when:
– Legacy software is involved,
– A team is facing significant technical debt, or
– A team is composed of mostly junior members.
Hence story point estimation is much better suited to estimating than man-hours in all situations, but especially in tricky situations, because they reflect both the complexity of the task and the effort required to complete it.
Using person-hours instead of story points typically shifts the focus from value creation for customers to the more traditional project management of costs and budgeting, effectively imposing a waterfall process. Also, estimating in person-hours suggests an unmerited level of precision.
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