Features in the Forecast module

[Gunther McCracken]

Hi,

I'm exploring the Forecasting feature in Jira Align. The documentation describes being able to see features "in complement" to their epic. Basically, I'd like to be able to see Features while looking at the Forecast module, but I can't see them. When I click "Apply Filters" I can see stand-alone features, but not all features. Does anyone know how to enable this? Is the documentation right? 

Thank you!

[Peter Jessen · Accepted solution]

Hi @Gunther McCracken,

You are right about the documentation saying there is a toggle for features under "Apply Filters," but in 4+ years I've never seen it. Only Stand-Alone Features have had a toggle. @Shawn Kessler - Is the documentation accurate?

That being said, I'm doing some digging to see if there is new functionality that needs a toggle enabled behind the scenes for his to work. @Tim Keyes - Is there a hidden toggle?

Regards,
Peter

[Shawn Kessler]

We are investigating and will report back :)

[Kyle Clark]

Hi @Gunther McCracken ! I'm a member of Jira Align's content team working with Shawn. I've investigated this documentation, and it looks like our development group removed the Features toggle from the forecast page filters in late 2018. Based on the revision histories of our doc, it appears we intended to replace a paragraph, but mistakenly left two conflicting statements inside the article. 

I've tested the page and updated the doc to reflect the correct behavior. We also found that additional, legacy options were still mentioned in the doc that have since been removed.

We will be taking a deeper dive on this article and related documentation in the next week, as our development teams are preparing some enhancements to the page that correct some visual issues and other problems. We'll make sure to give any other information the necessary overhaul to ensure the page functions listed are accurate. Thank you for reporting this!

[Gunther McCracken]

@Kyle Clark @Shawn Kessler @Peter Jessen Thank you very much for your help!

[Srikanth Ravikanti]

@Kyle Clark @Shawn Kessler , so If I need to have features show in forecast module, what am I supposed to do?

Thanks

[Kyle Clark]

@Srikanth Ravikanti , the Forecast page provides the ability to set capacity for an entire program or set of teams within a program, for a specific PI. You can then compare that capacity level against the estimate set on epics or capabilities planned for the PI. That initial estimate is set directly on the main tab of the epic/capability, prior to it being broken down into child features. Forecasting is intended to give you an idea of how much an item of that larger size will consume of the available teams’ capacities.

If you do not use epics or capabilities, the page can show features that do not have a parent, known as stand-alone features. To see these items on the page, click the Apply Filters button in the top-right, and then switch-on the Show Stand-alone Features toggle.

If you do use child features parented by larger work items and want to understand their scope inside a PI, consider using the Program Room. There, you can compare any set feature estimates against the roll-up of effort points from child stories that will be planned inside the PI’s sprints. You can also see how the total amount of work planned compares with the program’s past performance, called average velocity. Check the Program PI Load card to see if the PI looks underloaded or overloaded, from both the perspective of feature estimates in Estimate mode and from the rolled-up total of story points associated with features in Actual mode. Click the gear icon on the card to change modes.

You can also see this comparison from the Feature Backlog page, in the top row of each PI section displayed. Hover over the Program’s PI Velocity and Feature Estimate fields for more details.