Thought I’d mention a wee app I’ve been crafting in my spare-time: CombiCard, a scrum planning poker app. It’s written in C# for Windows 10 using UWP (Universal Windows Platform), which means it can run on any device that uses Windows 10 as it’s OS.
For more info, including source code and user guide: https://combicard.codeplex.com, obtain it through the Windows Store: https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9NBLGGH51P90.
So let’s quickly look at planning poker, UWP and CombiCard.
Planning poker is a way of estimating the relative size of a piece of work, via consensus. Items are “sized” i.e. given a single overall value/score that represents their relative size to each other, in terms of effort and complexity.
I like planning poker for several reasons; for example it avoids anchoring – a form of cognitive bias where significant influence is ascribed to the first piece of information offered (the “anchor”) when making decisions. It’s also more accurate than other forms of estimation, and it’s also a lot more fun (i.e. productive).
Windows Universal Platform (UWP) basically allows you to develop a application using a single code-base that can then run natively on any Windows 10 device (e.g. laptop and mobile). UWP will scale the UI to suit the device family it’s running on, additionally you can leverage aspects of UWP that allow you to handle specific device types and resolutions.
Which brings us to CombiCard. It seems I’m one of the few people in my area (the planet?) to use a mobile that’s not an Android or iPhone; and whilst the Windows Store does have a few planning poker apps available the range isn’t huge, and I thought a planning poker app would be an excellent choice for my first real foray into UWP.
Why use CombiCard over another app? It’s deliberately highly visual and customizable – as a user you can create any number of visual styles which can be applied to the cards and the main background, allowing you to mix-n-match. So if your meeting is really boring you’ll have something to do.
Here’s the colour mixer:
https://combicard.codeplex.com/
Available in the Microsoft AppStore:
https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9NBLGGH51P90
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