Your first Planning Poker session with StoryFlop
Prepare a story, assign roles and follow a complete round from private votes to a team decision.
1. Bring a story the team can discuss
Before opening the room, write the user's outcome and how to verify it. “Improve access” is vague; recovery through an expiring email link describes a concrete behaviour.
Practise with password recovery and an existing email service. The link expires, works once and explains invalid links clearly. Changing provider is excluded. This fictional estimate is not a universal reference.
Bring a completed story the team knows to compare relative size, including tests and review. If work is unclear or a missing decision changes scope, note the question before voting.
- Expected outcome and acceptance criteria
- Dependencies and exclusions
- A familiar reference story
2. Create the room and agree who does what
On the homepage, choose Create room, enter the session name, your name and an avatar. Share the link or code. Everyone joins from a browser without registering.
The organiser runs rounds and reveals votes. Collaborators can help with stories and rounds. Estimators vote; others may observe. Check roles before starting.
Add the story's title, description and optional task link. Share only authorised information and keep lasting decisions in your work system: rooms are temporary.
3. Clarify scope and vote without announcing a number
Read the story and ask about email availability, link reuse and expiry messages. Once scope is shared, open the round and choose cards independently.
StoryFlop offers 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 and 34, plus ? and a break. Values compare work within the team, not fixed hours. Use ? for missing information.
Wait for voters before revealing. Announcing “I think it's a 5” influences others. Private voting preserves different perspectives until discussion.
4. Reveal, discuss and record the decision
Suppose votes are 3, 5 and 13. Ask what each person included. Here, 13 assumed building the email service; 3 omitted expiry tests. Cards expose those differences.
Clarify that email exists and tests are included. Vote again if understanding changes. This team may agree on 5; other teams with different references may choose differently.
Record the final estimate and assumptions. Without agreement, split the story or investigate a concrete question. The average describes votes, not the agreed scope.
5. Finish with a useful check
Ask what was discovered that was not written down and add it to the task. A session should produce a clearer story as well as a number.
Transfer needed decisions from history to the backlog. Rooms and data are deleted after 14 days of inactivity. Keep useful references and review outdated ones for the next session.
Planning Poker is a technique for your context. The Scrum Guide does not require cards or story points. Adapt sessions to understand work rather than voting without purpose.
Put it into practice
Sources and further reading
The examples and StoryFlop instructions were written for this section. These sources provide context for the method and refinement: