Agile Project Management Estimation Techniques 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In T-shirt sizing, what do the sizes (S, M, L, XL) primarily help teams do early on?
- Estimate quickly at a coarse, relative level (Correct answer)
- Assign exact developer hours
- Replace the product backlog
- Calculate team capacity precisely
Correct answer: Estimate quickly at a coarse, relative level
T-shirt sizing gives a fast, rough relative grouping useful before detailed estimation.
Question 2: Affinity estimation is most useful when a team needs to size what?
- A large number of backlog items quickly (Correct answer)
- A single critical user story
- The sprint retrospective actions
- The release date precisely
Correct answer: A large number of backlog items quickly
Affinity estimation groups many items by relative size rapidly, ideal for large backlogs.
Question 3: What is the 'bucket system' estimation technique designed to handle?
- Estimating many items by placing them into predefined size buckets (Correct answer)
- Estimating only the highest-priority item
- Tracking actual hours spent
- Measuring team morale
Correct answer: Estimating many items by placing them into predefined size buckets
The bucket system speeds up large-scale estimation by sorting items into fixed-value buckets.
Question 4: Why is relative estimation often more accurate than absolute time estimation for humans?
- People compare sizes better than they predict exact durations (Correct answer)
- Relative estimates never change
- It removes the need for any discussion
- Absolute estimates are forbidden in Agile
Correct answer: People compare sizes better than they predict exact durations
Humans are better at judging that one item is bigger than another than at predicting exact time.
Question 5: During affinity estimation, what is typically done first?
- Silently arrange stories from smallest to largest (Correct answer)
- Vote with poker cards out loud
- Assign each story to a developer
- Set the sprint goal
Correct answer: Silently arrange stories from smallest to largest
Teams often begin by silently ordering stories by relative size to surface a quick baseline.
Question 6: What is a reference story (or baseline story) used for in relative estimation?
- A known-size anchor to compare other stories against (Correct answer)
- The first story ever completed by the company
- The most expensive feature in the backlog
- A story that must never be estimated
Correct answer: A known-size anchor to compare other stories against
A reference story provides a shared anchor point so the team estimates consistently.
Question 7: A team using T-shirt sizes later wants to forecast velocity. What must they do?
- Map sizes to a numeric scale like points (Correct answer)
- Abandon Agile entirely
- Convert sizes to fixed calendar dates
- Re-estimate every item in hours
Correct answer: Map sizes to a numeric scale like points
To forecast quantitatively, qualitative sizes are mapped to numeric point values.
Agile Project Management Estimation Techniques 3
In T-shirt sizing, what do the sizes (S, M, L, XL) primarily help teams do early on?