What is an Epic? - Definition & Meaning
An epic is a large user story that is too big to complete in one sprint and is split into smaller stories. Learn how epics work.
Definition
An epic is a large user story that is too big to be delivered in a single sprint. Epics are split into multiple smaller user stories that fit within a sprint. They represent a significant piece of functionality or a business goal that is realized across multiple sprints.
Technical Explanation
In the agile hierarchy, epics sit above user stories and below themes or initiatives. An epic typically contains 5 to 15 user stories and spans multiple sprints. Epics are managed on the product roadmap and help group related work. In tools like Jira and Azure DevOps, epics are linked as parent items to child user stories. Epic progress is measured by the percentage of completed child stories. Epics should be specific enough to provide direction but broad enough to maintain flexibility in implementation.
How Refront Uses This
Refront supports epics as a parent structure for tickets. Teams can group tickets under an epic to monitor the progress of large features. The dashboard shows a visual overview of epic progress, including the number of completed, active, and open stories. AI agents help split epics into well-formulated user stories.
Examples
- •The epic "Invoicing Module" contains twelve user stories, from creating invoices to sending reminders.
- •The team splits the epic into stories distributed over three sprints, each with their own acceptance criteria.
- •The product owner tracks the epic's progress via the Refront dashboard and sees that 60% of the stories are completed.
Related Terms
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you know when a user story should be an epic?
If a user story is too large to complete in a single sprint, it is likely an epic. A common rule of thumb is that stories larger than 13 story points are better split into an epic with smaller stories.
How many user stories does a typical epic contain?
An epic typically contains 5 to 15 user stories, depending on complexity. The number depends on how granularly the stories are written and the scope of the functionality.
Who is responsible for defining epics?
The product owner defines and prioritizes epics in collaboration with stakeholders. The development team helps split epics into user stories and estimate the required effort.
Ready to get started?
Try Refront for free and discover how AI automates your workflow.