What are Epics?

An agile epic is a body of work under an initiative that can be broken down into specific tasks, known as user stories.

Oscar de la Hera Gomez
Written by Oscar de la Hera Gomez
First published on 02/01/2024 at 11:41
Last Updated on 02/23/2024 at 09:24
<p>A flower that represents Project Management with the text “Epics” beneath it.<br /></p>

An agile epic is a body of work under an initiative that can be broken down into specific tasks, known as user stories.

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A visual that demonstrates a circular iterative process that goes from define, which is symbolized as a document, to clarify, which is symbolized as a geometric alignment, through creation which is symbolized as a nucleus.

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Once you have identified a new feature, product, service or experience (i.e a creation) with a product-market fit that has a clear value proposition that resolves a need of the target audience, the next step is to use the journey map or service blueprint to create a user experience map and from it a backlog that includes the body of work that has to be executed.

What is a Product-Market Fit?What is a Value Proposition Canvas?What is a Target Audience?What is a Journey Map?What is a Service Blueprint?User Experience Map: What it is & How to create oneWhat is a Backlog?

This body of work is often referred to as Epics, or Agile Epics and are part of Agile Methodologies and Scrum.

What are Agile Methodologies?What is Scrum?

Epics represent large deliverables (i.e. March 2050 Launch, Front-End Development or Feature X) and are broken down into various user stories (tasks) and agile user stories (subtasks) which streamline development, boost momentum and produce better outcomes.

Why Epics are beneficial to companies and teams?

Epics produce better outcomes as they:

  • Give a development team everything they need to be successful and connects business goals to user stories with digestible, executable agile user stories.
  • Provide a means for reporting by which project managers and executives understand how the work is going and how the team is performing.
  • Produce a culture of transparency and productivity.
  • Produce effective time estimates that empower developers and result in enhanced productivity.

Looking to learn how to craft epics for your project ?

To see examples of epics and to learn our approach to crafting epics, consult the link below.

How to define EpicsHow to create an Epic in JIRA

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