Glossary
What are story points? Estimating without hours
Story points size work relative to other work instead of in hours. Why that is more accurate, how the scale works, and how teams break it.
Story points size a piece of work relative to other work rather than in hours. A 4-point item is roughly twice the effort of a 2-point one — the number says nothing more than that. It rolls volume, complexity and uncertainty into one figure.
Why not hours
Because people are good at comparing and bad at absolute estimation. A team answers “is this more work than that?” reliably; “how many hours?” it does not. And an estimate in hours gets read as a commitment, while a point value does not.
The scale
A Fibonacci-like sequence is usual — 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13. The widening gaps are deliberate: the bigger the item, the vaguer the estimate, and the scale should not fake a precision that is not there. Anything above 13 wants splitting, or it is an epic.
How teams break it
By converting points into hours. The moment “a point is four hours” holds, the relativity is gone and the estimate is a commitment again. The second way is measuring points per person. They belong to the team; otherwise a planning aid becomes a performance metric — the same confusion that ruins velocity.
In Zuuna
Story points are a field on the card and the basis for sprint planning; you estimate either during refinement or together in planning poker.
FAQ
How do you start with no reference points?
Pick a medium-sized, well-understood item, call it a 3, and size everything else against it. The first few sprints are inaccurate; that is normal and improves quickly.
Can story points be compared between teams?
No. The scale grows out of one team's shared experience. Comparing two teams is the most common misuse of the number.
What does a 0 mean?
Usually: effort is negligible but it should still be visible. Some teams avoid it, because a 0 disappears in the total while the card still costs time.