Magic Estimation is a well-known fast-paced estimation technique for Agile teams, that was developed for in-room collaboration.

In our app, we have re-created the framework in the digital environment of Jira Cloud.

In this article, we will focus on the concepts of the original game and their implementation in the digital version.

Classic Magic Estimation game

The classic in-office Magic Estimation process contains 4 main steps:

1. Game preparation:

   • a moderator prepares a board with lanes for team’s standard estimation values, usually Fibonacci Sequence numbers or T-Shirt sizes;

   • the moderator prints PBIs

2. First estimation step:

   • the development team selects the first PBI as a baseline, usually, it’s the smallest 1 Story Point PBI;

   • the team spreads the rest of the prepared PBIs through the board lanes, this process must be done in silence, no discussion is allowed;

   • the Product Owner clarifies PBI-related questions;

3. Second estimation step:

   • the team silently checks the results, each participant can move any PBI to a different lane in case of any concerns;

   • the moderator tracks lanes changes for every PBI;

   • PBIs that have been changed a lot are discussed centrally until there is a consensus on the number of Story Points;

   • the exercise is finished when all the PBI’s are placed and everyone agrees with the final result.

4. Processing results:

   • the moderator has to transfer all results to an issue tracking system.

Read the following articles for more details:
https://agiletransparency.com/estimation-a-kind-of-magic/
https://medium.com/the-liberators/magic-estimation-5165df2be245

Magic Estimation game flow for Jira Cloud