Keep Austin Agile 2019

Jester went vertical and then so did Mav and Goose. They were ahead of their time. 80% of the value we deliver to our customers resides in just 20% of the features. Even worse, according to the Standish Group Research, 65% of the features we deliver are below the hard deck. They have little to no value at all for our customers.

So, how do we develop the most valuable features first and then cut the tail once we have gotten the highest market value out? We start by slicing the work vertically through all the horizontal architectural layers. A vertical story slices through the web, middle, and persistent layers. This isn’t our natural way of decomposing problems.

Yet, the benefits of vertical stories greatly outweigh horizontal and make the paradigm shift compelling. Vertical stories are more efficient, delivering immediate value, and force continuous integration. They are user-centric and can be demonstrated to your users for feedback. Vertical stories even promote cross-functional swarming which reduces development time.

If you "feel the need ... the need for speed" then fly by this session and go vertical. You'll walk away with key vertical slicing techniques that work. You’ll understand why vertical stories are a cornerstone of Agile software development.