Making agile estimation fair, transparent and collaborative, one hidden card at a time.
Planning Poker is a consensus-based agile estimation technique used by development teams to estimate the effort required for project tasks. Unlike traditional top-down estimation, Planning Poker gives every team member, from junior developers to senior architects, an equal voice in the decision-making process.
The core principle is elegant in its simplicity: hidden estimates prevent anchoring bias. When everyone reveals their estimates simultaneously, no one can be influenced by the first number thrown out. This creates a level playing field for genuine discussion.
My friend Jack Roden has recently released PlanninPokr, an open-source Planning Poker tool that brings this powerful technique online. Built with modern web technologies, it's designed for remote teams who need a seamless way to conduct estimation sessions.
The "poker" aspect isn't just a cute name, it fundamentally changes team dynamics:
PlanninPokr is completely free and open source:
Want to run your own instance? The Spring Boot + Maven setup makes deployment straightforward:
Deploy it to your internal infrastructure and keep your estimation sessions private and controlled.
Tools like PlanninPokr represent a broader trend: agile ceremonies moving from physical card tables to digital spaces. As distributed teams become the norm, having lightweight, purpose-built tools for specific ceremonies (standups, retros, planning sessions) becomes essential.
Unlike monolithic project management suites that try to do everything, PlanninPokr does one thing exceptionally well: fair, collaborative estimation.
Whether you're a seasoned Scrum Master or just starting your agile journey, PlanninPokr offers a refreshingly simple approach to one of software development's most important and most misunderstood, rituals.