Introduction

Lesire Software Engineering had been using "developer-only Extreme Programming" for a few months. Refactoring, unit tests, simple design, and pair programming had resulted in measurable improvements in the software process.

When the company wanted to transition to "full" XP and expand the use of XP beyond the development team, it faced a number of problems.

• Poor communication between business and developer teams.

• No understanding of user stories, the planning game, and velocity.

• Distrust of the planning game and velocity. How could such simple methods deliver credible plans and schedules?

Presentations, discussions, training, and coaching did not completely resolve these issues. Developers and businesspeople reluctantly agreed to try the XP experiment, without much hope of success.

Then Vera Peeters, Lesire's XP coach, exclaimed, "Let's play a game!"