Why a Sunset graph?

The main purpose of the Sunset graph is to monitor the team’s progress while following the project scope.

This graph allows you to visualize the project’s progress. It makes it easier for managers to understand, at a high level, the issues encountered by the team. Managers can then focus on anticipating potential budget excess or non-delivery of mandatory stories instead of focusing on the project’s content.

In addition to keeping managers informed, the Sunset graph supports the concept of self-organizing teams.

The Sunset graph, named this way by Pyxis Technologies because of its colors, is the perfect tool to bring some visibility to the following:

• The scope of the backlog (orange), split into 3 categories: mandatory, important, and optional
• The actual progress (blue), split into the same categories (mandatory, important, and optional)
• The trends regarding forecast completion based on the team’s velocity
• The changes in scope in the backlog.

How to read the graph?

With a quick look, managers can easily follow the progress of the team in light of their forecast to deliver stories based on their velocity. Before the first sprint, the team plots the number of sprints planned for the project (X-axis), the number of points to be delivered (Y-axis), and the forecasted velocity.

Optimistic trend (green line)
The optimistic trend, it’s the scenario where the team’s velocity increases; thus, completing all stories (mandatory, important, and optional).

Pessimistic trend (blue line)

The pessimistic trend, it’s the scenario where the team’s velocity decreases.

Download the Sunset graph (in French).