Understanding the Role of Features in Agile Release Trains (ARTs)

In Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Agile Release Trains (ARTs) play a crucial role in delivering value to customers. ARTs are long-lived, self-organizing teams that consist of Agile teams and other stakeholders necessary to continuously define, build, test, and deliver solutions. One of the key components within ARTs are features. In this blog post, we’ll dive deep into understanding what features are, how they are defined, sized, and delivered within ARTs, and their importance in delivering business value.

What are Features?

Features represent solution functionality that delivers business value, fulfills a stakeholder need, and is sized to be delivered by an ART within a Planning Interval (PI). Each feature includes a benefit hypothesis and an acceptance criteria. A benefit hypothesis is a statement that describes the proposed measurable benefit to the end user or business. Acceptance criteria determine whether the implementation is correct and delivers the intended business benefits. Features are owned by Product Managers and are placed in ART backlog as shown in the below picture. 

Features vs. Capabilities:

It’s important to note the distinction between features and capabilities. While features are delivered by a single ART within a PI, capabilities represent larger solution functionality that often spans multiple ARTs and is sized to be delivered within a PI. Capabilities are at a higher level of abstraction and support the definition and development of large solutions.

Discovering and Describing Features:

To create desirable and sustainable products, SAFe recommends using Design Thinking, a customer-centric approach. Design thinking tools such as personas, empathy maps, and customer journey maps provide a deeper understanding of customers and users, offering a rich context to better understand features and their potential benefits.

Features are defined using a feature and benefits format, which includes a short phrase giving a name and context, along with a benefit hypothesis. It’s important to avoid defining features using the ‘user story voice’ format, as features typically provide functionality for multiple user roles, and using the same method to describe user stories and features may cause confusion.

Creating and Managing Features:

Product Managers, in collaboration with Product Owners and other key stakeholders, define features in the local context of an ART. Some features may arise as a result of splitting epics, while others are created by System Architects, known as enabler features. Enabler features pave the Architectural Runway and support exploration or provide the infrastructure needed to develop, test, and integrate the solution.

The ART backlog is used to maintain both business and enabler features. At each PI boundary, the percentage of resources allocated to new features (or capabilities) versus enablers is estimated to guide the train.

Prioritizing Features:

To sequence jobs (features and capabilities) based on the economics of product development flow, SAFe uses the Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) prioritization model. Product and Solution Management use WSJF to prioritize features, while System and Solution Architects use it to prioritize enabler features. Since both business and enabler features exist in the same backlog, Product Management must work collaboratively with System Architects to reconcile differences in priorities considering the business needs. Aligning priorities to Strategic Themes and capacity allocation are two approaches to creating alignment and balance in the backlog.

Estimating and Accepting Features:

Feature estimation supports forecasting value delivery, applying WSJF prioritization, and sizing epics by splitting them into features and summing their estimates. Feature estimation usually occurs in the analysis state of the ART Kanban and relies on normalized estimation techniques similar to the methods used by Agile teams.

Product Management is responsible for accepting features. They use acceptance criteria to determine whether the functionality is implemented correctly and whether nonfunctional requirements are met. Acceptance criteria can also be used as the source of stories and are often transformed into acceptance tests with Behavior-Driven Development (BDD).

Splitting Capabilities into Features:

To be implemented, capabilities must be decomposed into features, which are further split into stories consumable by teams within an iteration. SAFe provides ten patterns for splitting work, including workflow steps, business rule variations, major effort, simple/complex, variations in data, data methods, deferring system qualities, operations, use-case scenarios, and breaking out a spike.

Conclusion:

Features play a vital role in delivering business value within Agile Release Trains. They represent solution functionality that fulfills stakeholder needs and are sized to be delivered within a PI. By understanding how features are defined, sized, prioritized, estimated, and accepted, organizations can effectively leverage the power of ARTs to continuously deliver value to their customers. Embracing the practices and principles outlined in the Scaled Agile Framework, such as Design Thinking, WSJF prioritization, and feature splitting patterns, can help organizations optimize their value delivery and achieve better business outcomes.