Description
A Spike is a solution-specific experiment, often taking place during an entire sprint, but sometimes in shorter durations, aimed at answering a question or gathering information important to the team’s success.
Spikes are sometimes referred to as “design spikes,” or “sprint prototypes,” and are described as the simplest output (typically code, but often a design or other work product) that can be built to confirm the team is on the right track.
Teams will often routinely include stories for experimentation with spikes during sprints early in the produce development life cycle.
Typical Roles
Team Members
Scrum Master
Desired Behaviors
- 1.
Develop a user story for spikes as if they were any other backlog item.
- 2.
Estimate using story points, or hours if they are at the task level.
- 3.
Develop tasks, if required.
- 4.
Demonstrate outcomes internally to team members.
- 5.
Gather data for input into backlog grooming.