Definition
‘Spikes’ or ‘Research Spikes’ are alternative refactoring paths. A Spike is an investment from the Product Owner that is intended to figure out the nature of the product being built, and the ways in which the team is going to build it, in advance of actually doing so. The Product Owner initiates the process of allocating partially the team’s capacity ahead of when the story is to be delivered. This helps the team gain advance knowledge of what to do before the story comes into the sprint.
A ‘Spike’ therefore, is an investment to make the story estimable and schedule-able. It is a beneficial technique, in the cases when the story is too large and complicated. Also in instances when the term is unsure whether they’ll be able to complete the story and eliminate blockers.
Further Reading
- “User Stories Applied”(book), by Mike Cohn