12.7 Exercises

RetailPro, an imaginary e-commerce company specializing in home goods, is transitioning to a mobile-first approach to enhance customer engagement and sales. The company’s leadership has decided to develop a new mobile application to support its business goals. The project team has adopted the Scrum framework to ensure a flexible, collaborative, and iterative development process. The product will be launched in three months, and the team is in its first Sprint.

Project Details:

Product Goal: Develop a user-friendly mobile application enabling customers to browse, search, and purchase products efficiently while offering personalized recommendations based on purchase history.

Sprint Goal for the First Sprint: Implement a basic user management system, allowing customers to register, log in, and reset their passwords.

Team Structure:

• Product Owner: Responsible for prioritizing the Product Backlog and ensuring the team delivers value to stakeholders.
• Scrum Master: Responsible for facilitating the Scrum process, removing impediments, and coaching the team.
• Developers: A cross-functional team of 6 developers with expertise in front-end, back-end, and database design.

Sprint Details:

• Duration: 2 weeks
• Sprint Backlog:
  1. User Story: “As a new user, I want to register an account so that I can save my payment details for future use.” (5 Story Points)
  2. User Story: “As a returning user, I want to log in using my email and password to access my account.” (3 Story Points)
  3. User Story: “As a user, I want to reset my password if I forget it so that I can regain access to my account.” (2 Story Points)

Tools and Metrics:

Tools: Atlassian Jira for task tracking, Zoom for meetings, and Figma for UI design.

Metrics: Burndown Chart for Sprint progress, Velocity Chart for long-term planning.

Key Events During the Sprint:

Sprint Planning: The team discussed the user stories, identified dependencies, and defined the Sprint Goal. Tasks were broken into smaller subtasks, such as creating a database schema for user management and implementing a password validation system.

Daily Scrum: Team members shared updates:

• “Yesterday, I completed the registration form UI. Today, I’ll integrate it with the database.”
• “I’m working on email verification for password resets. I’ve hit an issue with the SMTP server configuration.”
• Impediment: The SMTP server for email verification was misconfigured, delaying progress. The Scrum Master coordinated with the IT team to resolve the issue within a day.

Sprint Review: The team demonstrated the completed user registration and login features. Stakeholders suggested adding password strength indicators to enhance usability.

Sprint Retrospective:

• What went well: Collaboration among developers was seamless, and the burndown chart showed steady progress.
• What didn’t go well: The team underestimated the complexity of the password reset feature.
• Action items: Allocate more time for complex features and improve dependency identification during Sprint Planning.

Questions:

Part 1: General Understanding of the Scrum Process

1. What is the primary responsibility of the Product Owner in this project?
2. What is the main role of the Scrum Master during the Sprint?
3. Describe the Sprint Goal for the first Sprint in this project.

Part 2: Sprint Planning and Execution

1. Assign a priority to each user story based on its importance to the Product Goal.
2. During Sprint Planning, the team broke down user stories into smaller subtasks. Provide an example of a subtask for implementing the password reset feature.
3. How did the team identify and handle dependencies during Sprint Planning?

Part 3: Monitoring and Metrics

1. How do these tools used to track the team’s progress contribute to achieving the Sprint Goal?
2. How does a Burndown Chart help the team monitor Sprint’s progress?
3. Why is the Velocity Chart useful for long-term planning in Scrum?

Part 4: Sprint Events

1. During the Daily Scrum, one team member mentioned hitting an issue with the SMTP server configuration. How did the Scrum Master address this impediment?
2. How can the feedback from stakeholders during the Sprint Review be integrated into future Sprints?
3. What is the importance of demonstrating completed features during the Sprint Review?

Part 5: Retrospective and Continuous Improvement

1. How can action items be addressed in future Sprints?
2. How might the team adjust their approach to Sprint Planning based on the retrospective action items?
3. What went well during the Sprint, and how can the team ensure these positive aspects are maintained in future Sprints?

Part 6: Critical Thinking

1. If the password reset feature’s complexity was underestimated, what strategies could the team use to prevent similar underestimations in the future?
2. Imagine the stakeholders request a new feature (e.g., adding biometric login functionality) during the Sprint. How should the team handle this request according to Scrum principles?
3. How might delays in resolving impediments (e.g., the SMTP server issue) impact the Sprint Goal and overall project timeline?

Part 7: Scenario-Based Questions

19. If the burndown chart shows inconsistent progress halfway through the Sprint, what might this indicate, and how should the team address it?
20. Suppose the password strength indicator suggested by stakeholders needs additional development time. How can the Product Owner prioritize this feedback while ensuring the team remains focused on the Sprint Goal?