3Cs (Backlog Refinement)
❓What is it
- The Three Cs stand for Card, Conversation, and Confirmation and is a approach to refinement of the backlog items so that they are ready to be considered for inclusion in a sprint backlog.
- It's a technique that emphasises the importance of a user story (Card), the discussion around it (Conversation), and the acceptance criteria (Confirmation) to ensure clear understanding and expectations across the team tasked with delivering that value.
- A “Card” (or often a Post-It note), a physical token giving tangible and durable form to what would otherwise only be an abstraction:
- A “Conversation” taking place at different time and places between the various people concerned by a given feature of a software product: customers, users, developers, testers; this conversation is largely verbal but most often supplemented by documentation
- The “confirmation”, finally, the more formal the better, that the objectives the conversation revolved around have been reached.
👥Who
- Primarily lead by the product manager
🛠 Running the technique
- A Card (or often a physical or virtual Post-It note) is just a placeholder that signifies there is a customer requirement. It’s like an item on a to-do list or a reminder taped to the fridge. A token. Create a user story with a title and value statement and maybe one or two acceptance criteria
- Next engage your team members or a service owner in a Conversation. Embellish and refine the first draft from insights gained from this Conversation. This should include a description and further acceptance criteria.
- Ensure Confirmation with a final refinement session that validates mutual understanding of the valuable outcome being targeted, what requirements need to be satisfied, and an estimate of the effort to achieve this