Fibonacci Agile Estimation

What is Fibonacci agile estimation?

The method works by assigning points to tasks, based on their size and scale. Bigger, more complex tasks receive a higher number of points, while smaller, less-intricate tasks are given fewer points.

The points on this scale correspond to the numbers in the Fibonacci sequence, in which each term is the sum of its previous two: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and so on. 

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When would a team use Fibonacci agile estimation?

Let’s say that a product team is working on several new features for an app. To estimate the resources needed to complete each task and prioritize, the team should first agree on each feature’s size and scale. 

While its main goal is to help teams arrive at a consensus, the Fibonacci agile estimation method also provides an opportunity for knowledge sharing. All members can debate the complexity of each feature and attribute points from the Fibonacci sequence. Based on this, they’ll be able to estimate the effort and resources they need to devote to get the tasks done.

Benefits of using Fibonacci agile estimation

The Fibonacci agile estimation is a great prioritization method because it prevents estimates from being so close to each other that they become irrelevant. Since this scale uses whole numbers that grow exponentially, the gaps between its points get bigger and bigger. As a result, product managers can easily perceive the differences between complex tasks and can avoid the dreaded “analysis paralysis”.