Agile Alliance Logo | PMI
Search
Log in
Agile Alliance Logo | PMI
Agile Glossary

INVEST

> Getting started with Agile? Learn the essentials with the Agile Practice Guide

What is INVEST?

The acronym INVEST helps to remember a widely accepted set of criteria, or checklist, to assess the quality of a user story. If the story fails to meet one of these criteria, the team may want to reword it, or even consider a rewrite (which often translates into physically tearing up the old story card and writing a new one).

A good user story should be:

  • “I” ndependent (of all others)
  • “N” egotiable (not a specific contract for features)
  • “V” aluable (or vertical)
  • “E” stimable (to a good approximation)
  • “S” mall (so as to fit within an iteration)
  • “T” estable (in principle, even if there isn’t a test for it yet)

Origins

  • 2003: the INVEST checklist for quickly evaluating user stories originates in an article by Bill Wake, which also repurposed the acronym SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-boxed) for tasks resulting from the technical decomposition of user stories.
  • 2004: the INVEST acronym is among the techniques recommended in Mike Cohn’s “User Stories applied“, which discusses the concept at length in Chapter 2.

<  View all Glossary Terms  |  Provide feedback on this term

Join us today!

Agile Alliance offers many online and in-person events and workshops for our members. If you’re not currently a member, you can join now to take advantage of our many members-only resources and programs. LEARN MORE >

Get the latest Agile news!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By subscribing, you acknowledge the Agile Alliance Privacy Policy, and agree to receive our emails.

Additional Agile Glossary Terms

Planning Poker

An approach to estimation used by Agile teams. Each team member "plays" a card bearing a numerical value corresponding to a point estimation for a user story.
Read More >

Burndown Chart

Burndown charts and burnup charts track the amount of output (in terms of hours, story points, or backlog items) a team has completed across an iteration or a project.
Read More >

Kanban

The Kanban Method is a means to design, manage, and improve flow systems for knowledge work. The method also allows organizations to start with their existing workflow and drive evolutionary change. They can do this by visualizing their flow of work, limit work in progress (WIP) and stop starting and start finishing.
Read More >

CRC Cards

Class Responsibility Collaborator (CRC) Cards are an object oriented design technique teams can use to discuss what a class should know and do and what other classes it interacts with.
Read More >

Quick Design Session

When "simple design" choices have far-reaching consequences, two or more developers meet for a quick design session at a whiteboard.
Read More >

Velocity

Velocity is the total effort estimates associated with user stories that were completed during an iteration.
Read More >

Help us keep the definitions updated

Ready to join Agile Alliance?

Unlock members-only access to online learning sessions, Agile resources, annual conference discounts, and more! And when you join, you’ll be supporting our member initiatives, regional events, and global community groups.

Log in now
Learn more

Privacy Preference Center

Consent Management

  • Please read first

IMPORTANT: We have transitioned to a new membership platform. If you have not already done so, you will need to SET UP AN ACCOUNT on the new platform to establish your user profile. Your previous login credentials will not work until you do this set up.

When you see the login screen, choose “Set up Account” and follow the prompts to create your new account. You can choose to log in using your social credentials for either Google or Linkedin (recommended), or you can set up your account using an email address.

Set Up Account
Log in Now
  • Membership Links