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  • 1.  Update on Epic Stories in the New Rally User Stories Page

    Broadcom Employee
    Posted Mar 12, 2020 02:01 PM




    As we have noted in the in-app notification on the new User Stories page (above), there are certain cases where the new page does not display the expected data for Rally users who use "epic" stories (stories nested under other stories).  We understand that this creates confusion for our users and in those specific cases does not meet customer expectations.  


    We want to assure our customers that rely on epic stories that developing a solution to better meet those needs is an absolute priority.  After researching how these differences manifest themselves and the impacts on users day to day usage of Rally, we are in the thick of trying to determine the best path forward for addressing the misalignment. To provide total transparency the appropriate solutions will take some time to develop given the many use cases our diverse customer base requires 


    Access to the previous version of the page:


    Access to the previous version of the page will remain available from the new page until we have implemented a solution. If you are a user of epic stories, we recommend that you take advantage of this access for the time being.  It's worth noting that we kept the URL of the new and old pages distinct so that users could easily bookmark the old page for everyday use.


    Understanding the differences: 


    Because search and filters only affect the top layer of hierarchy, if you are a user of epic stories and use the new version of the User Stories page, the differences you can expect to encounter include:

      • Hierarchy: The new User Stories page shows the top level stories. Users need to expand to see the hierarchy to see the children nested under the parent.
      • Search: Search will search the top layer of hierarchy only. For example, if you search the exact formatted ID of a child story; it won't return any search results. Search the exact formatted ID of a parent story and it will return search results
      • Timebox Filters: Child stories scheduled in a release or iteration timebox will not appear in filter results when filtering on that timebox
      • Owner Filters: Filtering on particular owners when stories are children of other stories will include the linked stories in the results even if they have different owners.  
      • Data Roll Ups: Mostly due to the filtering behavior changes described above, the roll up of data will give different totals than the previous page. 
      • Work Views Page: The Work Views page will handle this data differently. This page returns all user stories that match your scope and filter criteria.
        • Essentially two "copies" of the child story will appear in your data set, one nested under the parent, and one as part of the list. 
        • As a result when you search by formatted ID the child story will return in search results. 
        • You also will get the child stories returning in your results when you filter by timeboxes. 
        • As happens on the User Stories page filtering by the owner of a child story will result in the child story showing in your data set, nested under its parent with the other children (whether or not that owner filter matches those stories also). However you will also see a second, stand-alone, line item of that child story in your filtered results.

    For these reasons, we would again encourage users who use epic stories and rely on the features above to glean information from the User Stories page to continue using the previous version. In the meantime, we will continue to improve the features and functionality of the User Stories page to fit the workflows and needs of our wide customer base. 


    We are committed to improving the overall experience of Rally for all of users. As we have additional updates on the development to address these discrepancies we will share them here.



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    Gwen Gelsinon
    Rally Software Product Team
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  • 2.  RE: Update on Epic Stories in the New Rally User Stories Page

    Broadcom Employee
    Posted May 04, 2020 12:42 PM
    Edited by Andrea Schilde May 04, 2020 12:42 PM

    Hello everyone,


    I wanted to share some updates that we have implemented for the new User Stories page based on all of the great feedback we have received. 


    User Stories page - Filters

      • Owner Filter
        • The Owner filter now considers the owner of the top-level work item only. 
        • Exception: On the Iteration Status page, the Owner filter considers the owner at the top-level work item (User Story, Defect, Defect Suite, and Test Set), as well as the owner of any associated child work items (Task, Test Cases, etc.).
        • You can find more details about this change here.

      • All other filters
        • All other filters on the User Stories page have been updated to allow filtering on top-level User Stories as well as child-level User Stories
        • Example: Previously one could not filter for all User Stories that were scheduled in a specific Iteration or Release IF the User Story had a parent User Story associated with it. This has been updated and released. You will now be able to see all User Stories associated with a given timebox.
        • This change will only impact organizations that leverage the User Story hierarchy (nesting) to map out their work. 

    Feedback Request

    We are looking for additional feedback from end-users of the User Stories page who's organization leverages User Story hierarchy (nesting) to map out their work.
    We understand the User Experience of the new User Stories page is different and this might take some getting used to.

    What we would love to understand is:

    • Are there still tasks that you are not able to complete using the new User Stories page?

    If this is the case then we would love to talk to you to better understand your use cases. You can sign up for a call with us by following this link.

    If these changes address your needs we'd love to hear from you as well. Please leave a message on this post.
    And please reach out if you have any questions.


    Thank you and have a great weekend.


    Best,

    Andrea & The Rally Product Team



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    Product Manager
    Rally Software
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