Parking Lot
The parking lot is a graphical representation that shows the progress of a theme or epic: its total size, its percentage of completion, and the number of user stories it comprises. Its compact visual format makes it especially well suited for display on kanban cards or product tracking boards.
It was first proposed by Jeff DeLuca in 2002.
Description
Each "parking lot" represents a theme, and it is most commonly used to show:
- Theme title.
- Number of user stories it comprises.
- Size in the unit of measurement used for the user stories.
- Percentage completed. Reflects the size of the user stories that are done.
When to use it
- As a complement to the Product Owner's kanban board, to visualize the progress of themes/epics without needing to access the full Product Backlog.
- In Sprint Reviews, to communicate progress to stakeholders visually and without jargon.
- In teams that work on several epics in parallel and need a summary view of the relative progress of each one.
Common mistake
Updating the parking lot infrequently. If parking lots are not updated as stories are completed, the percentage completed becomes unreliable and stakeholders make decisions based on outdated information. A parking lot has the same value as a burnup chart: it is only useful if it reflects the real status.
See also
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