Chapter 2
🌀 Scrum Process Framework
Scrum is a lightweight agile framework for managing complex product development. It is iterative,
incremental, and focused on empirical process control (transparency, inspection, adaptation).
🔷 1. Overview of Scrum Process
Scrum divides development into Sprints (typically 2–4 weeks) that deliver potentially shippable product
increments.
🔁 Scrum Cycle:
1. Product Backlog
2. Sprint Planning
3. Sprint Backlog
4. Daily Scrum
5. Sprint Execution
6. Sprint Review
7. Sprint Retrospective
🔁🔁🔁 2. Scrum Roles
🔸 1. Product Owner
Represents the customer
Manages the Product Backlog
Defines “what” needs to be built
Prioritizes work based on value
🔸 2. Scrum Master
Facilitator and coach
Removes impediments
Ensures Scrum is followed
Not a traditional project manager
🔸 3. Development Team
Cross-functional and self-organizing
Size: 5–9 members
Responsible for building the product
🔁 3. Scrum Activities / Ceremonies
🔸 1. Sprint Planning
Decides what will be done in the Sprint
Done at the beginning of each Sprint
🔸 2. Daily Scrum (Stand-up)
15-minute time-boxed meeting
Each member answers:
o What did I do yesterday?
o What will I do today?
o Any blockers?
🔸 3. Sprint Review
End-of-sprint demo of completed work
Stakeholders give feedback
🔸 4. Sprint Retrospective
Internal reflection for process improvement
Team discusses:
o What went well?
o What didn’t?
o How to improve?
📦 4. Scrum Artifacts
🔸 1. Product Backlog
Ordered list of all features, fixes, enhancements
Owned by Product Owner
🔸 2. Sprint Backlog
Subset of Product Backlog items selected for a Sprint
Includes tasks for the team to implement
🔸 3. Increment
Sum of all completed Product Backlog items
Must be “Done” and potentially shippable
🕒 Sprints
🔷 Overview
A Sprint is a time-boxed development cycle (usually 2–4 weeks) where the team delivers a usable and
potentially shippable product increment.
🔸 Key Features of Sprints
✅ 1. Time-Boxed
Fixed duration (e.g., 2 weeks)
Cannot be extended once started
✅ 2. Short Duration
Promotes focus and adaptability
Short cycles → quick feedback
✅ 3. Consistent Duration
Same length each time improves rhythm
Helps with velocity tracking
✅ 4. No Goal-Altering Changes
Sprint Goal is fixed during the Sprint
Changes deferred to next Sprint
✅ 5. Definition of Done (DoD)
Clear criteria for when work is complete
o Code written
o Reviewed and tested
o Documented and deployable
🆚 Comparison: Scrum vs. Traditional Models
Aspect Scrum (Agile) Waterfall (Traditional)
Delivery Incremental, frequent At the end of the project
Flexibility High – welcomes change Low – fixed requirements
Customer Involvement Continuous Only at beginning and end
Planning Adaptive, sprint-based Predictive, upfront
Documentation Minimal but sufficient Heavy documentation
Testing Continuous, integrated After development phase
✅ Advantages of Scrum
1. Fast Feedback from stakeholders
2. Early and Continuous Delivery
3. Transparency and Accountability
4. Improved Product Quality via continuous testing
5. High Team Morale and collaboration
6. Quick Adaptation to changing requirements
❌ Disadvantages of Scrum
1. Requires skilled and self-disciplined team
2. May lack structure for large-scale teams
3. Role confusion in transitioning organizations
4. No detailed documentation may be a challenge for future maintenance
5. Difficult to estimate effort precisely
📝 Pointwise Summary of Scrum Process Framework
1. Scrum is iterative and empirical
2. Roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team
3. Ceremonies: Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Review, Retrospective
4. Artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment
5. Sprint is a fixed-duration development cycle
6. Clear Definition of Done ensures quality
7. Emphasizes teamwork, adaptability, and delivery
📘 Requirements and User Stories in Agile
✅ 1. Overview
In Agile, requirements are captured as User Stories rather than traditional detailed documents. These are short,
simple, and user-focused descriptions of a feature told from the perspective of the end-user.
📝 2. What are User Stories?
A User Story is a lightweight requirement-capturing format that follows:
As a <role>
I want <goal>
So that <reason>
📌 Example:
As a student, I want to submit assignments online, so that I can save time and avoid paper.
🔁 3. The 3 C’s of User Stories
1. Card – The story itself written on a card or digital tool.
2. Conversation – Collaboration between team and product owner to refine the story.
3. Confirmation – Acceptance criteria to confirm the story is done.
📈 4. INVEST Criteria for Good User Stories
Letter Stands for Description
I Independent Should be self-contained
N Negotiable Flexible, not a rigid contract
V Valuable Delivers value to the customer
E Estimable Can be estimated by the team
S Small Small enough to be completed in a sprint
T Testable Should have clear acceptance criteria
⚙️ 5. Non-functional Requirements (NFRs)
These describe how the system behaves rather than what it does. Examples include:
Performance
Usability
Security
Scalability
Reliability
In Agile, NFRs can be written as stories or acceptance criteria.
📚 6. Knowledge Acquisition Stories
These are stories that help teams gain understanding of a new domain, tech, or requirement.
Example:
As a developer, I want to research OAuth 2.0, so I can secure APIs.
Used when uncertainty or learning is needed before implementation.
🔁 7. Story Mapping
Story Mapping is a technique to visualize user journeys and prioritize features across a timeline.
Key Benefits:
Understand user workflow
Prioritize MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
Plan releases
Structure:
Horizontal: Activities / Goals
Vertical: Tasks / Features (arranged by priority)
🎯 8. Prioritizing Stories: WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First)
Used in SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework).
WSJF = Cost of Delay / Job Duration
Where Cost of Delay = Value + Time Criticality + Risk Reduction
Choose the story with the highest WSJF value to maximize value delivery.
📅 9. How We Do Sprint Planning
Conducted at the start of each Sprint
Team selects User Stories from the Product Backlog
Breaks them into tasks
Establish a Sprint Goal
Stories moved to Sprint Backlog
🔁 10. Daily Scrum (Daily Stand-Up)
15-minute meeting every day of the Sprint
Each member answers:
o What did I do yesterday?
o What will I do today?
o Any blockers?
Keeps everyone aligned and issues transparent.
🔁 11. Multiple Scrum Teams (Scaling Scrum)
When multiple teams work on the same product:
Coordination Techniques:
Scrum of Scrums – Representatives from each team meet regularly
Shared Product Backlog
Clear interface definitions between teams
Frameworks like SAFe, LeSS, and Nexus help manage large teams.
✅ Advantages of Agile User Stories & Practices
1. Encourages user-centric design
2. Enhances collaboration and communication
3. Easy to update and adapt
4. Supports incremental delivery
5. Promotes shared understanding
❌ Disadvantages
1. Lack of formal documentation for future maintenance
2. May lead to incomplete understanding if poorly written
3. Difficult for large, regulated industries without detailed specs
4. Multiple teams need tight coordination for scaling
🆚 User Stories vs Traditional Requirements
Feature User Stories (Agile) Traditional Requirements (Waterfall)
Format Natural language, story-based Formal document
Detail Level Lightweight, brief Detailed and comprehensive
Change Flexibility High Low
Customer Collaboration Continuous feedback Fixed at start
Prioritization Ongoing via backlog Usually upfront
Testing Criteria Acceptance criteria Test plan-based
📝 Pointwise Summary
1. User stories focus on what the user wants and why
2. 3 C’s ensure the story is well understood and testable
3. INVEST model helps ensure good quality stories
4. NFRs should be handled carefully to avoid performance/security issues
5. Story Mapping helps visualize features and user flows
6. WSJF prioritizes stories that maximize business value
7. Sprint Planning ensures team commits to realistic goals
8. Daily Scrums ensure team synchronization
9. Multiple teams need proper coordination for scaling Agile
