Improving the user & admin experience of Jira Align with naming conventions

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Naming conventions are a powerful practice to make navigating and comprehending data easier. In this article I want to share where in Jira Align naming conventions can be useful and some common examples for respective naming conventions.

Time objects

For the entire time structure in Jira Align, it is advisable to implement naming conventions. Navigating Jira Align and understanding data in Jira Align becomes much easier when the naming of Strategic Snapshots, Program Increments and Sprints follow the same patterns continuously.

Strategic Snapshots

Naming patterns strongly depend on how strategic snapshots are used. It is advisable to discuss the aspect of naming conventions after having explored how to use Strategic Snapshots. A pattern we see very often and which provides great value is to add the time frame to the title which the strategic snapshot is relating to.

Program Increments 

Crisp program increment titles and short names can be very powerful, for example when navigating Jira Align or when viewing the roadmap. Adding the year and a number identifier are an example pattern.

Example (for the 3rd PI in the year 2022)

title: “2022 PI-3”

short name: “22PI3” 

If different programs or portfolios run on different cadences, adding the name of the program or portfolio to the corresponding program increment can help finding the desired object in Jira Align more easily.

 
Example (for program “Mobile” and the above mentioned PI)

title: “2022 MOB PI-3”

Iterations

Looking at naming for iterations, let’s briefly remind ourselves that there are two different kinds of iteration names which can appear in the Jira Align UI and administration.

Anchor Sprints appear whenever data is looked at in a program-level-context or above, for example on the Roadmap or the Program Board.

It is especially important to name short names of Anchor Sprints in a way which allows for easy identification, possibly containing information about the Program Increment they belong to and a number identifier.

Example (for sprint 1 in the above mentioned PI)

title: “2022 PI-3 Sprint 1”

short name: “22 PI3 S1”

The Team iteration name often appears whenever data is looked at in a team-level-context. This is especially relevant for technical integration management.

In addition to the anchor sprint nomenclature considerations, adding the Team name to the iteration name can be helpful for technical integration management. If Team iteration names are managed from Jira - which we recommend - the short name will be populated automatically by Jira Align.

Example (for Team “Cowboys” and the above mentioned sprint)

title: “Cowboys 2022 PI-3 Sprint 1”

short name: (will be automatically populated)

Work objects

Because of the extensive metadata work objects can contain in Jira Align, the great possibilities to display this metadata in views and since the detail view is only 1 click away, naming conventions for work objects are a little bit less important from a Jira Align administration and user experience perspective.

However, naming practices which provide a clear understanding of what the respective work item is about in a crisp manner can provide a better user experience in many views. Thus, we encourage you to involve work item naming in your conversations about evolving your ways of working with Jira Align.

Value delivery hierarchy

Jira Align views the organizational hierarchy from a value delivery perspective. This perspective might not be identical to an organization's formal hierarchy. If there is a pattern which connects your organization's value delivery hierarchy to your organization's formal hierarchy, it might be of value to include that/those identifier(s) in the respective name of the organizational unit in Jira Align.

Further naming conventions considerations

When maintaining a larger amount of External Entities or Customers in Jira Align it might be worth exploring if naming conventions can improve the user experience. For example, adding a possibly existent ID to the title of the respective External Entity or Customer can help to select the desired object quicker.

Did you make positive experiences with naming conventions in Jira Align which have not been mentioned so far? Please comment and share them!

[Christoph Piotrowski _catworkx_]

Hi @Philipp Barry , thanks a lot for this summary - it is great to share these recommendations at one place!