Definition
Story points are a unit of measure used in agile development to represent the relative effort required to implement a feature or user story. They capture complexity, uncertainty, and the amount of work involved, rather than just time. Teams assign story points during backlog refinement or sprint planning sessions, often using a Fibonacci sequence like 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, or 13. This relative estimation allows teams to forecast their capacity and track progress more effectively over time. For example, a team might estimate a small bug fix as 1 story point and a complex new feature as 8 story points. Unlike time based estimates, story points do not directly translate to hours, preventing teams from overcommitting based on perceived speed. This concept is frequently assessed on the PMI-ACP, CAPM, and PMP certifications.