The Key Concepts of Agile ​

In this chapter, we'll look into some key concepts of Agile development through the use of user stories.

Initiatives ​

An initiative is a high-level project or goal that an organization aims to achieve. It's a broad, strategic effort that typically involves multiple tasks, projects, and activities. Initiatives are usually aligned with the overall mission and objectives of the organization and are designed to bring significant, positive changes or improvements. Initiatives provide a clear direction for the organization and guide the development of specific projects and features.

Features ​

Distinctive functionality or capability of a product or software application. Features are the building blocks of software systems and are designed to fulfill specific user needs or requirements. For example, in a word processing software, features could include spell check, formatting options, and document templates.

Epics ​

Large task or project that is broken down into smaller, manageable user stories. Epics are used to manage and organize substantial tasks or projects that cannot be completed in a single iteration or sprint. They are high-level user requirements that capture the essence of what needs to be done.

User Stories ​

Concise description of a feature from a user's perspective, detailing what they want and why. A typical user story follows a template like this: "As a [type of user], I want [an action] so that [benefit/ value]."

Tasks ​

When the development team takes on a user story, they can define different tasks needed to be able to implement the story. These tasks all need to be completed before the user story can be seen as "done".