BOOK A CALL

October 7, 2014

Cost of selling on-line down by 45 points

By Russ Lewis. Published online October 7, 2014

agile estimation cards

Another true story about the art of Agile Estimation

About 14 months ago, I wrote this story card:

We should sell estimation cards online,
 to offset the cost of producing them

We gave it an estimate of 50 points as it seemed “do-able”, but no-one was exactly sure “how” to do it. Amazon was a likely choice, but so was the Storm website, or even eBay. The business value was only “should”, so it got moved down the priority list.

By springtime we had released a shopping cart to the website so users could mix and match training course modules. Selling cards was moved back up the list and a product page designed, created and released. Since nobody had chosen modules using the cart during the summer, we removed it and the “sell cards” card headed back down towards the bottom of the list.

Two weeks ago, SOMETHING AMAZING HAPPENED. I bought a plug on-line, noticed a “sell on Amazon” link and clicked it to see what I could learn. 20 minutes later and our cards were listed for sale on-line!

It's OK to get it wrong

Five minutes after that and ooops, I realised I had changed the pricing of another vendor’s cards and replaced theirs with pictures of ours. But by then I was completely hooked (and somewhat concerned about the security of a product listing, but that’s another story). It took another couple of hours to set-up a completely new product and our first sale happened just two days later.

Having experienced all this, I’m now something of an expert at selling products online through Amazon. I know about product fulfilment, barcodes, European identity numbers, delivery options and pricing. My next estimate of the effort to sell online, via Amazon will be just 5, not 50.

Three Cs Cards, Conversation and Criteria

Make sure your team talks about each User Story so they can discover the insight and experience that’s available. Storm’s Agile Estimation Cards are a great way of starting that conversation. Wrap-up the talking with written criteria for acceptance such as: cards available for sale online; when bought on-line they arrive within 3 days.

The team at Storm have been providing great value Agile training, consulting & support for over 20 years.

Subscribe (below) to get posts delivered via email and stay up to date with all things Agile.

Tags:
Newsletter signup

    Recent Posts

    Invitation to collaborate in transformation research project

    This is an invitation to join the pathfinder cohort and help develop the Tensions Management approach so organisations that are struggling, can benefit, level-up, thrive and prosper. Collaborators will apply Tensions Management techniques to solve real issues in their organisations as part of a global action learning research study. The knowledge applied is not new, […]

    Read More
    Levelling-up digitally disadvantaged public and third sectors: Tensions Management research

    Ever wondered why managers struggle to overcome resistance to change? Why institutions consistently talk about improvement but cannot increase operational efficiency? And why do some sectors perform so badly when compared with others? Tensions Management is a better way to overcome resistance to change, as it addresses social and technical factors simultaneously. Dr Russ Lewis […]

    Read More
    Explaining organisational resistance to change

    Flawed Advice and the Management Trap, Chris Argyris, 2000 Social tensions in organizations prevent people from doing what they privately believe to be right. People espouse one model but employ another; they do not walk the talk. The gap between words and actions is compounded (by repetition) to become the infamous strategy – execution gap […]

    Read More
    How to restore Teams Wiki data after Jan 2024

    Microsoft killed Wiki on Teams - who knew they would delete our data too - here's how to restore it

    Read More
    Transformation research update

    'Managing Tensions not People' as transformation method research update at the end of 2023 This time last year I was searching through the ambidexterity literature for tensions other than the usual explore-exploit. I built a website to publish my progress online, which I think was a diversion! Literature research update I found more than 70 […]

    Read More
    The HOW of Transformation

    The HOW of Transformation recorded at the Global Digital Transformation Summit in Berlin 2023 Summary Managers who manage tensions enjoy greater performance, especially in complex and dynamic environments. In this 36-minute talk: I tell the story of Transport for London's transformation from a one-sided fares Operator to an integrated Developer-Operator. And show how technologists using […]

    Read More
    October 14, 2014
    Gen Y to Lead Agile Transformation in Workplace

    There’s a quiet revolution going-on right now fueled by people’s expectations of work and productivity. Everyone has a fantastic user experience with their devices and apps at home, and see no reason not to have the same at work. If Agile is about steady transformation, “big bang” is big risk As the next generation take-on […]

    Read More
    October 6, 2021
    What does focussing on culture mean to XYZ Consulting?

    We have some mid-tier consultants in at the moment who are "focussing on culture." Since we don't separate culture from delivering value to customers, I asked what that meant in practice. Apparently: "A generic scheme of manoeuvre could involve a diagnostic that looks at things like empowerment, psychological safety, collaboration, purpose, customer centricity… then based […]

    Read More
    May 15, 2014
    Slothful Lessons in Agile

    Slothful Behaviour is Good If ever an animal captured the principle of "maximising work not done", it must surely be the sloth. A curiously slothful practitioner of business agility. Strangely endearing and charmingly enigmatic, sloths are surprisingly inspiring. There exists a Sloth-Club which was formed "to promote slothful behaviours" such as ecology, economy and vegetarianism […]

    Read More
    1 2 3 14
    Copyright Russ Lewis 1994-2025
    linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram