Release Planning
Release Planning is an agile practice where the team and Product Owner determine the scope, timing, and goals for the next product release by mapping backlog items across future iterations based on team velocity.
Explanation
Release planning bridges the gap between individual sprints and product roadmap milestones. It answers the question: given our velocity and the remaining backlog, when can we deliver a meaningful set of features to users? Release planning is typically done at a higher level than Sprint Planning, looking ahead multiple sprints.
The Product Owner identifies the items that constitute a release (a Minimum Viable Product, a feature set, or a contractual deliverable). Using the team's average velocity, the team forecasts how many sprints are needed to complete those items. This forecast is a range, not a commitment, and is updated as the team completes each sprint.
Release planning supports both date-driven and feature-driven approaches. In a date-driven release, the team determines how many features can be completed by a fixed date. In a feature-driven release, the team estimates when a specific set of features will be done. Both approaches use velocity as the key forecasting metric.
Key Points
- •Maps backlog items across future iterations to forecast a release
- •Uses team velocity as the primary forecasting metric
- •Supports both date-driven and feature-driven release strategies
- •Updated regularly as the team completes sprints and new information emerges
Exam Tip
Release planning uses velocity to forecast when features will be ready. It produces a range estimate, not a fixed commitment, and is updated regularly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Topics
Velocity
Velocity is the amount of work a Scrum team completes in a Sprint, typically measured in story points, used to forecast how much work the team can handle in future sprints.
Burnup Chart
A Burnup Chart is a graphical representation that shows the amount of work completed over time alongside the total scope, making it easy to see both progress and scope changes.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the smallest version of a product that can be released to customers to validate a business hypothesis and gather maximum learning with the least effort.
Product Backlog
The Product Backlog is an emergent, ordered list of everything that might be needed in the product, serving as the single source of requirements for any changes to be made.
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