Epic

An epic is a large user story that is too big to complete in a single sprint and needs to be decomposed into smaller, deliverable stories. Epics represent major features, capabilities, or initiatives that contribute to strategic objectives.

Epic characteristics:

• Too large for a single sprint (typically weeks or months of work)
• Comprises multiple related user stories
• Represents a meaningful business capability or outcome
• Has a clear business objective and success criteria
• Evolves as the team learns more through implementation

Epic hierarchy:

• Theme/Initiative: Strategic business objective (e.g., "Improve customer self-service")
• Epic: Major feature or capability (e.g., "Online account management portal")
• User story: Specific, deliverable functionality (e.g., "As a customer, I can view my invoices")
• Task: Technical work within a story (e.g., "Create invoice API endpoint")

Writing effective epics:

• Define the business objective clearly
• Describe the target users and their needs
• Outline the high-level scope without over-specifying details
• Include success metrics or KPIs
• Identify key assumptions and risks
• Break down into stories progressively (not all at once)

Epic management best practices:

• Track epic progress through the completion of child stories
• Use epic burndown charts to visualise progress
• Review and adjust epic scope at regular intervals
• Communicate epic status to stakeholders
• Close epics when the business objective is met (not necessarily when all stories are done)
• Avoid too many open epics simultaneously (focus is important)