Project Planning Skill
Comprehensive knowledge for planning software projects from ideation to execution.
Planning Methodology
1. Discovery Phase
Questions to Ask:
- What problem are we solving?
- Who are the target users?
- What does success look like?
- What are the constraints?
- What's the timeline?
2. Requirements Gathering
Requirement Types:
- Functional: What the system must do
- Non-Functional: How well it must do it
- Technical: Implementation constraints
- Business: Organizational needs
3. User Story Format
**As a** [type of user]
**I want** [goal/desire]
**So that** [benefit/value]
**Acceptance Criteria:**
- [ ] Criterion 1
- [ ] Criterion 2
- [ ] Criterion 3
**Priority:** P0/P1/P2
**Estimate:** S/M/L/XL
4. Prioritization Framework
MoSCoW Method:
- Must Have: Critical for MVP
- Should Have: Important but not critical
- Could Have: Nice to have
- Won't Have: Out of scope (for now)
Priority Levels:
| Priority | Description | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| P0 | Critical | Immediate |
| P1 | High | This sprint |
| P2 | Medium | Next sprint |
| P3 | Low | Backlog |
5. Estimation Techniques
T-Shirt Sizing:
| Size | Complexity | Time |
|---|---|---|
| XS | Trivial | < 1 hour |
| S | Simple | 1-4 hours |
| M | Medium | 4-8 hours |
| L | Complex | 1-3 days |
| XL | Very Complex | > 3 days |
Story Points (Fibonacci): 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21
6. Scope Management
In Scope:
- Explicitly defined features
- Agreed requirements
- Documented acceptance criteria
Out of Scope:
- Features deferred to future
- Explicitly excluded items
- Nice-to-haves beyond MVP
7. Risk Assessment
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope creep | High | High | Strict change control |
| Technical debt | Medium | Medium | Regular refactoring |
| Key person dependency | Medium | High | Documentation, pairing |
Templates
Project Brief Template
# Project: [Name]
## Overview
[1-2 sentence description]
## Problem Statement
[What problem does this solve?]
## Goals
1. [Primary goal]
2. [Secondary goal]
3. [Tertiary goal]
## Success Metrics
- [Metric 1]: [Target]
- [Metric 2]: [Target]
## Scope
### In Scope
- [Feature 1]
- [Feature 2]
### Out of Scope
- [Excluded 1]
- [Excluded 2]
## Timeline
- Phase 1: [Date]
- Phase 2: [Date]
- Launch: [Date]
Epic Template
# Epic: [Name]
## Description
[What this epic accomplishes]
## User Stories
- [ ] US-001: [Story]
- [ ] US-002: [Story]
## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] [Criterion]
## Dependencies
- [Dependency 1]