WorkProductDescriptor
Work Product (Artifact): Epic
This artifact is a work item type used to track the work associated with managing an epic.
Relationships
Container Artifact
Main Description

An epic is a "large" user story that is broken down into smaller user stories. In the practices content there is no distinction between user story and epic as separate artifacts, but in IBM Rational Team Concert the epic is called out as a separate work item type because it has a slightly different set of properties than a user story work item.

The epic work item can be assigned an owner, which may be responsible for breaking it down into smaller user stories that are more easily managed and assigned to developers in an iteration. The epic owner would then mark the state of the epic according to the proposed state machine - the epic would be considered "done" when all child user stories (and other assigned tasks) are marked as done.

State

Definition

Following Action

Following State

Task/Activity

   

Initialize

Identified

Plan Iteration

Identified

Newly identified or reopened epic

Defer

Deferred

Plan Project

Mark Done

Done

Test

Start Working

In Progress

Develop User Story

Mark Invalid

Invalid

Plan Project

In Progress

Epic is being broken down into smaller user stories (which in turn are being developed)

Defer

Deferred

Plan Project

Mark Done

Done

Test

Mark Invalid

Invalid

Plan Project

Invalid

Epic is invalid

Defer

Deferred

Plan Project

Mark Done

Done

Test

Start Working

In Progress

Develop User Story

Reopen

Identified

Plan Iteration

Done

Epic is completed (child user stories are done)

Defer

Deferred

Plan Project

Reopen

Identified

Plan Iteration

Deferred

Epic is deferred or removed from the backlog, for one of the reasons:

  • Duplicate
  • Implemented
  • Implemented Upstream
  • Later
  • Won't Implement
  • Works For Me 

Mark Done

Done

Test

Start Working

In Progress

Develop User Story

Mark Invalid

Invalid

Plan Project

Reopen

Identified

Plan Iteration

Table 1 - State machine of the epic work item

Properties
Optional
Planned