3 Critical Reasons I Stopped Using Story Points (2024)

When I started the Agile journey, I saw a lot of online articles, books, and people saying, “Agile estimation should be done with Story Points,” so I used it for the first several years without any doubts. However, after experiencing multiple Agile projects, I grew uncomfortable with Story Points and ultimately stopped using them. I even discovered a blog post by Ron Jeffries, who is regarded as the inventor of Story Points, expressing regret and deploring their creation. (Although he is often credited with their invention, he himself is unsure. It seems the original concept of Story Points has become distorted.) In this article, I will explain 3 critical reasons I stopped using Story Points based on my research and experience.

First, let’s review what the Story Points are. Story Points are units of measurement used to estimate the effort required for a piece of work. Given that software engineering encompasses numerous complexities and uncertainties, Story Points were devised as an alternative solution to time-based estimation to take these factors into consideration when estimating. It is said that Story Points offer several…