Not sure what you mean by "more is better". A story point is a fictitious unit of measure used to denote the combination of work item size/complexity/effort.
Sizing work using story points and using that info to calculate secondary measures such as velocity does have a variety of downsides. It is better if teams get good at slicing work items small enough that sizing them is immaterial and the focus can be on objective measures such as throughput.
A story point is an Agile measure of effort/complexity for a task, not time. It considers size, uncertainty, and difficulty. More points = bigger or riskier work, not “better.” They help teams estimate, plan velocity, and forecast delivery more realistically than hours
Be careful of "more is better" when it comes to story points. There are and have been people with that mindset, and it doesn't really help get things done.
Since story points are a form of relative estimating and aren't supposed to be tied to hours of effort, one team's 8 may be another team's 5. If both teams have a velocity of 40, which team is getting more work done?
Trick question.
While I prefer t-shirt sizes for sizing, you still need points if you are concerned with velocity (the average number of story points a team expects to complete per sprint). If someone is overly concerned with the number of story points a team is completing per sprint, it's a really simple matter for the team to adjust how they are sizing, et voila! they are now completing more story points per sprint. But they're not completing more work or delivering more value. They're gaming the system. You shouldn't do that, either. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
You can find the exact definition inside the Agile Alliance for example, mainly now it is part of the PMI. Please let me pointing out something critical. When you estimate you always will get an amount of uncertainty with the estimation. You can find about this if you read Barry Bohem´s Cone of Uncertainty paper. You will find the factor that impacts in a high degree to create uncertainty is the available information you have in the moment you are estimating. Story point are "the worst" in that terms. So, if you will use it, you must take care about it in a way that is not present in others methods, mainly if you are using User Stories. Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
Tiffanie Nichols Great question — and you're definitely not alone in that confusion!
Story points can seem abstract at first, because they’re not tied to hours or days.
But that’s exactly the point: they are a relative measure of effort, complexity, and risk — not time. Think of them as a team-based calibration tool for understanding how much work is involved in a user story.
Here’s a simple analogy:
If “walking 1 km on flat ground” is 1 story point, then “walking 1 km uphill with a heavy backpack” might be 3 points. It takes more effort, even if the distance is the same.
A few key takeaways:
- More story points doesn't mean better — it often just means the work is harder or more complex.
- The goal isn’t to maximize points, but to build a shared understanding and create sustainable velocity.
- Over time, the team develops its own internal rhythm (velocity), making planning more predictable.
If you're just starting, try using Planning Poker with a Fibonacci scale (1, 2, 3, 5, 8...) — it helps make estimation collaborative and removes the pressure of “being precise.”
Hope this helps bring some clarity! Saving Changes...
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