In part 3 of our blog series on workflow, following Agile Project Workflow and User Stories in the Design Process, we are focusing today on quotation preparation. Two things are important here: first, determining the exact effort required, and second, breaking down the services or functions in a way that is understandable to the client. Since we do not have developers as clients every day, quotations must also be readable and self-explanatory for less technically savvy individuals.
There are various approaches to preparing a quotation: from rough, ballpark "it'll all work out somehow" solutions, to exact breakdowns of all functions, right through to creating user stories.
We consider the latter to be a proven solution, which is why we rely on user stories not only during the design phase and in development, but also when preparing quotations. These help designers, developers, and project managers to carry out their work more efficiently. This is because all tasks for implementing the user stories are defined in advance and, once commissioned, can be systematically processed by the team in sprints. But how does quotation preparation using user stories work, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of this method, known from Scrum?
We do not think in features
To explain the fundamental difference between features and user stories, here is a brief example to illustrate using a contact form.
The form is a feature; the user story for it is: The website visitor contacts the company via a form (by entering their name, email address, and a message).
The difference is as follows: A feature describes the functionality, whereas a user story describes what action a user performs on the website. It is therefore significantly easier to imagine which actions need to be carried out to fulfil the requirements for a web service, rather than what features a website contains. In our experience, listing features leaves too much room for interpretation, and often the ideas for implementation simply diverge too widely. Ultimately, this can lead to unintended additional costs for both parties. But what are the advantages and disadvantages of this method?
The advantages and disadvantages of User Stories
Anyone who has already worked with Scrum will certainly cite the time commitment as a disadvantage. Because the estimation is much more detailed, preparing the quotation naturally involves additional effort.
However, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. By breaking down the work into user stories, efforts become calculable and self-explanatory. Not only the client, but also the project team benefits from this approach. Since the project is planned by all responsible team members, knowledge transfer naturally also takes place.
Once all stories have been noted, another advantage quickly becomes apparent. In this process, missing specifications or planning errors can be very easily identified and thus clarified before the quotation is even submitted. Through this approach, the number of questions about the quotation, problems during implementation, and change requests, along with associated additional costs for both sides, have been significantly reduced.
