What is Agile?
Agile is an approach to software development in which we break the project into smaller parts.
It is an iterative and incremental model.
In Agile, the developer and tester can work in parallel.
Changes are welcome and are brought in through the backlog — usually into the next sprint, so the current sprint's goal stays stable.
What is Scrum?
Scrum is an agile project management framework that is frequently used by agile software development teams.
It offers a way to connect multiple people or teams who need to work together to deliver complex solutions.
Scrum vs Kanban
Kanban is one of the Agile methodologies.
There are various methodologies in Agile, such as:
- Scrum
- Kanban
- Lean
- Crystal
Scrum
- Work is completed in iterations.
- Every 2 weeks, we get a sprint.
- After one sprint completes, another sprint begins.
Kanban
- There is no sprint.
- Work is a continuous process.
What is a Sprint?
A sprint is a set period of time during which specific work must be completed.
It defines the amount of work to be completed during that period.
Time Limit of a Sprint
A sprint runs between 1 and 4 weeks.
(In our organization, it was 2 weeks.)
User Stories, Epics, and Backlogs
User Story
Requirements that are divided into smaller requirements are called User Stories.
In manual testing, a user story is a requirement for any functionality or feature, written as a one- or two-line statement.
Epic
A collection of related user stories.
An epic is a large (high-level) requirement.
Product Backlog
All requirements collected by the Product Owner (PO) are put into a bucket called the Product Backlog.
It contains a list of all user stories prepared by the Product Owner.
Story (Sprint) Backlog
Contains the user stories committed by the developers and QAs for a specific sprint.
It holds the user stories accepted by the team.
User Story Estimation
Estimation
Estimation predicts the relative effort of a user story — its size, complexity and uncertainty — usually in story points rather than hours. Testing effort is part of the estimate: a story that is easy to build but hard to test is not a small story.
For that, we have to understand the requirements properly.
Advantage
We can measure progress:
- How many story points have been completed.
- How many stories are pending.
Techniques
- Planning Poker
- Bucket System
- Dot Voting
(In our organization, we used the Planning Poker technique.)
Planning Poker follows the Fibonacci series.
The PO and Scrum Master describe the user story.
Then each team member secretly selects a card, and everyone reveals their cards at the same time.
The Scrum Ceremonies
Sprint Planning
Conducted by the Product Owner (PO).
The PO and the Agile team are involved.
The PO lists all the user stories to be completed in a particular sprint, and the team discusses how much time is needed to complete them.
Scrum Meeting (Daily Stand-up)
Conducted on a daily basis to check the progress of the Agile team.
Conducted by the Scrum Master daily for 10–15 minutes.
We discuss:
- How much work has been completed.
- What has been completed.
- What has not been completed.
- Any issues that arise.
Sprint Review
Conducted by the Product Owner.
The Agile team gives a demo of the completed work to the PO because the PO knows the business well.
The PO checks whether the team completed the work properly.
- If the PO accepts the user stories, they work as expected.
- Otherwise, they are rejected.
Sprint Retrospective
Conducted by the Scrum Master.
The team discusses:
- What went well in the sprint.
- What did not go well.
- What improvements can be made for the next sprint.
Burn Down vs Burn Up
Both are used to track the project's progress.
Burn Up
How much work is completed.
Burn Down
How much work is still pending.
What a Tester Does in Each Part of the Sprint
| Event | Tester's contribution |
|---|---|
| Backlog refinement | Asks questions, adds edge cases and acceptance criteria, flags stories that aren't testable yet |
| "Three amigos" | A short talk between the product owner (or BA), a developer and a tester on each story before work starts — the cheapest place to find a defect |
| Sprint planning | Includes testing and automation effort in the estimate; commits as part of the team |
| Daily scrum | Shares testing progress and blockers (environment, data, open bugs) |
| During the sprint | Tests stories as soon as they're ready, not all at the end; automates stable scenarios |
| Sprint review | Helps demo tested features and reports quality honestly |
| Retrospective | Brings evidence — e.g. "most stories reached QA on the last day" — to improve the process |
Definition of Done
A shared checklist that every story must meet before it counts as done — for example: acceptance criteria met, code reviewed, tests passed, no open critical or high bugs, automated regression tests added where agreed, documentation updated. Testers help keep it honest: a story that "works on the developer's machine" but hasn't been tested isn't done. More: Jira Boards & Sprints and Agile vs Waterfall.
Practise sprint-time testing decisions on realistic scenarios in the Manual Testing Simulator.
From Real Projects
On Apkope, Canolog and Testsigma I took part in Agile ceremonies — daily stand-ups, sprint planning, sprint reviews and retrospectives. The tester's voice matters in each: raising testing effort in planning, blockers in stand-up, and quality issues in the retrospective. Testing works best when it starts with the requirement, not after development finishes. Raise testing effort and risks during sprint planning, not at the end of the sprint.
FAQs
1. What is Agile in simple terms?
An iterative and incremental approach to software development where the project is broken into parts, developers and testers work in parallel, and changes are welcomed through the backlog.
2. What is the difference between Scrum and Kanban?
In Scrum, work is done in fixed-length sprints (e.g., 2 weeks) one after another.
In Kanban, there are no sprints, and work flows as a continuous process.
3. What is a sprint and how long is it?
A sprint is a fixed period during which specific work must be completed.
Typically, it lasts 1 to 4 weeks (commonly 2 weeks).
4. What is the difference between an epic and a user story?
A user story is a small requirement written as a one- or two-line statement.
An epic is a large, high-level requirement made up of a collection of related user stories.
5. What is the difference between a product backlog and a sprint backlog?
The product backlog holds all user stories prepared by the Product Owner.
The sprint (story) backlog holds only the stories the team commits to for a specific sprint.
6. What are the main Scrum ceremonies?
- Sprint Planning (by the PO)
- Scrum Meeting (Daily Stand-up) (by the Scrum Master)
- Sprint Review (by the PO)
- Sprint Retrospective (by the Scrum Master)
7. What are user story estimation and Planning Poker?
Estimation predicts the time needed to complete a story.
Planning Poker is a technique that follows the Fibonacci series, in which each member secretly picks a card, and all members reveal them simultaneously.
8. What is the difference between burn-up and burn-down?
- Burn Up tracks how much work is completed.
- Burn Down tracks how much work is still pending.
