The customers have the right to expect that builders tackle the most important work each cycle and deliver maximum usable business value. They choose the stories with the highest return on investment that fit the builders’ estimates during planning. Customers also have the right to see progress in a running system, not just slide decks or status reports. They specify the acceptance criteria, and a suite of repeatable tests prove that the criteria is met. ...
Scope Soft or Dates Soft Myth: agile software development skips planning. Wrong! Customers have the right to a plan - what can be done, when, and at what cost. The business needs this to function. But! being both accurate and precise requires actually building the project. Anything less is guesswork. So builders must describe uncertainty honestly using probability curves. We can’t promise fixed scope on hard dates, either scope or dates must flex. So instead we provide some kind of probability predicting estimations: “95% confidence we finish the first ten stories by the date, 50% for the next five, 5% for the five after that.” And these numbers change continually shift as each days go by. Sometimes the the schedule is very precise and at other times it’s somewhat soft. ...
The “customer” isn’t just the person clicking buttons. Generally, the “customer” label can be assigned to anyone with skin in the game — end users, managers, executives, project leaders, and anyone carrying responsibility for scheduling, budgets, and outcomes. Why does this matter? Because all of these people have legitimate overlapping needs and rights. Which might include: The project manager needs a plan. The executive needs cost visibility. The end user needs working features. The product owner needs priority control. When we treat only one group as “the customer,” other voices get ignored and trust breaks down. ...
(From “Extreme Programming Installed” Addison-Wesley, 2001) 1 You have the right to know what is needed, with clear declarations of priority. 2 You have the right to produce quality work at all times. 3 You have the right to ask for and receive help from peers, superiors, and customers. 4 You have the right to make and update your own estimates. 5 You have the right to accept your responsibilities instead of having them assigned to you. ...
(From “Extreme Programming Installed” Addison-Wesley, 2001) 1 You have the right to an overall plan and to know what can be accomplished when and at what cost. 2 You have the right to get the most possible value out of every week. 3 You have the right to see progress in a running system, proven to work by passing repeatable tests that you specify. 4 You have the right to change your mind, to substitute functionality, and to change priorities without paying exorbitant costs. ...