epic
A substantial grouping of related work that structures requirements in a hierarchy to achieve specific, measurable business outcomes.
Key Points
- Represents a large scope that often spans multiple iterations or releases.
- Decomposed into features and user stories for incremental delivery.
- Connects strategic goals to executable work items and outcomes.
- Continuously refined, prioritized, and validated with clear acceptance criteria.
Example
A retailer creates an epic called "Mobile Checkout Experience" to reduce cart abandonment. It is broken into features like barcode scanning, payment wallet integration, and digital receipts, which are then split into user stories and delivered over several sprints to achieve a targeted 10% conversion lift.
PMP Example Question
During release planning, a team groups several related features and user stories under a single work item that ties to a business objective of increasing customer retention. What is this work item called?
- Epic
- Feature
- User story
- Task
Correct Answer: A — Epic
Explanation: An epic is a large, related body of work that organizes requirements hierarchically and aligns delivery to a specific business outcome.
HKSM