Plan and track features

Define product features and track their development progress.

In this topic:

Setup: Configure WSJF settings and set up your grid

1. If you want to use WSJF to prioritize your features: 

   In the Workspace > Settings configuration page, configure WSJF settings. For details, see Prioritize themes and features.

2. Select the Product Backlog > Features tab.

3. Add the Initial Estimate, Feature Type, and WSJF columns to the grid.

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Step 1 – Define a feature

Manage features on the Product Backlog > Features tab.

1. Click Add Item. Make sure Feature is selected in the Type box.

2. Type a Name, and assign the feature to Applications and a Theme.

   Tip: The list of themes is filtered according to the applications you selected. To select from the full list of themes, click Show All.

   • A feature automatically inherits the applications that its backlog items are associated with. You cannot remove these applications from the feature .

     Applications inherited from its backlog items are listed in the Applications column in the Features grid.

   • Backlog items are not automatically associated with a feature’s applications.

3. In the grid, select the Feature Type: Architectural or Business

4. Assign the feature an Initial Estimate. The initial estimate is measured in 'shirt sizes' (XL, L, M, S, XS). This provides you with a recorded feature size early on in the release, before you need or are able to provide more details.

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Step 2 – Prioritize features

Prioritizing features can assist you in planning the associated backlog items.

You can prioritize by rank, or by the various Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) components: Business Value, the Cost of Delay (CoD) sum, or the overall WSJF score.

For details, see Prioritize themes and features.

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Step 3 – Set story points

Estimate a feature in story points. This should be a rough estimate taking into account the feature's overall size. The feature's story point estimation is independent of the aggregated story points of the feature's backlog items. For example, you may initially estimate a feature at 40 story points. After the feature is broken down into user stories and story points are estimated for each user story, they may amount to 50 aggregated story points. Agile Manager stores both values separately.

Estimating story points at the feature level is useful for planning features to a release, and tracking the remaining release capacity.

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Step 4 – Plan to release

Drag features to a release bucket, or select features and click Planning . For more details, see Plan a release.

If you have many releases, click the link at the top of the planning pane (for example 46/52 Releases). Enter text in the search bar to filter the releases listed, and select the releases you want to display in the planning panel.

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Step 5 – Manage feature life cycle

As work on a feature progresses, manage its life cycle by changing its status.

Change a feature's status in the Backlog Items > Features grid, the feature's Details view, or by dragging features between columns on the Feature Board.

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Step 6 – Analyze feature progress

Action	Description	Availability
Follow each feature's progress bar	The progress bar represents the amount of completed and remaining backlog items story points, in comparison to the amount of planned Feature story points. Hover over the progress bar for a detailed list of completed, total, and planned story points, as well the number of user stories and defects assigned to this feature.	Backlog Items > Features, Feature Board
Track progress in a specific release or application	To track the progress of a feature in a particular release or application, filter the Applications or Releases columns. The progress bars aggregate only those backlog items that are assigned to the selected applications or releases.	Backlog Items > Features, Feature Board
Analyze feature planning and progress	In the dashboard, use widgets in the Feature category to analyze feature planning and progress. In the Feature Board, track the flow of features through their development stages and across releases. You can see the statuses of the various features, and how their progress matches the WIP limits and Time limits set in your system. A feature's Status Duration field indicates the number of days and hours the feature has been in the current status. This field is available in a feature's Details view, and the Features grid. The Feature Board compares this value to the status's time limit and displays an alert if the limit is exceeded.	Dashboard, Feature Board, Backlog Items > Features

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Step 7 – Split feature

If you have not completed a feature and the release comes to an end, split the feature to move open backlog items to another release. Completed backlog items are left in the original release.

Right-click a feature, and select Split Feature.

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