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Non-User Story Spike In Agile

This article, explains the non-user story spike in Agile.

Purpose

In Agile, a non-user story spike (or simply spike) is a type of task created to investigate, research, or experiment with a particular area of uncertainty or technical complexity within a project.

Unlike a traditional user story, which focuses on delivering value to the end user, a spike is focused on gaining knowledge that will help the team make informed decisions and reduce risk.

Example

As a [developer], 
I would like [to research the latest security protocol]
So that [we feel confident we selected the best method for securing our customer financial data]

Key Characteristics Of A Non-User Story Spike

Purpose

Spikes are used to gather information, research, or explore solutions to complex problems the team does not fully understand. They are helpful when there’s uncertainty that needs to be clarified before committing to a user story.

Outcome

The outcome of a spike is often a set of findings, a prototype, or a recommendation, rather than a deliverable product feature.

Timeboxed

Spikes are typically time-boxed to limit the time the team spends on the investigation.

Non-User-Facing

Since spikes are not directly tied to end-user functionality, they are not intended to deliver user value directly.

When To Use A Spike?

Technical Spikes

When the team needs to research a new technology, tool, or approach to determine its feasibility or understand how to integrate it.

Functional Spikes

When there’s ambiguity around a feature or requirement, the team needs to explore potential solutions or experiment to gain clarity.

Example

Imagine the team is tasked with building a real-time analytics feature, but they are not sure which technology to use. They may create a technical spike to evaluate different real-time data processing frameworks (e.g., Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ) to see which would best meet the requirements.

The team is tasked with implementing a user authentication feature that includes multi-factor authentication (MFA) and role-based access control. This may create a functional spike where you will create a simple prototype to explore the flow of a two-step login process (e.g., password and OTP). Verify if MFA can be easily integrated with the chosen authorization framework (e.g., OAuth) and if it meets the security requirements.

Posted By -	Karan Gupta

Posted On -	Saturday, November 16, 2024

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