Open and Closed
Besides the six states, every Story has a second, independent status: it is Open or Closed. The two axes answer different questions:
- The state (Idea to Done) says how far the work is.
- Open/Closed says whether the Story is finished, either because it was delivered and accepted or because you deliberately stop pursuing it.
Done is not Closed
A Story can be Done and still Open. That is the normal case right after implementation: the team is finished, but the Story still awaits acceptance, for example by the Product Owner or a stakeholder. Only once it is accepted do you close it.
| State | Open/Closed | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Doing | Open | The team is working on it. |
| Done | Open | Built, awaiting acceptance. |
| Done | Closed | Delivered and accepted. |
| Draft | Closed | Deliberately not pursued (canceled). |
The split keeps two questions apart: "Is the work finished?" and "Is the result accepted?".
Closing a Story
In the example project QuickCart you can see this on the Iteration Board: the Story Order details is in Done but still open. Its row offers the button Mark as Closed. For Stories still in progress, the button reads Mark as Done instead.
You can also close a Story:
- with the completion mark on the Story card,
- in the Closed row of the task's edit sheet,
- by dragging it into the Closed column in the Backlog Kanban.
When closing, Betterplan asks about rework: you enter how many Story Points went into corrections after delivery. The value is added, never replaced.
Closed Stories get out of your way: the Closed column in the Kanban stays collapsed until you expand it with the arrow at the right edge of the board. With Reopen Task you bring a Story back.
Canceling: closing without delivering
If you close a Story that was never Done, it counts as canceled. On the Storyboard, the Story's context menu offers Cancel story and afterwards Undo cancellation. Canceled Stories appear grey and struck through with the Canceled badge, and you can find them in the filter via Canceled.
The bravest sentence in Discovery is "We're not building that." A Story you close early saves you from building something of little value. That is not failure but the purpose of Discovery. Often around 20% of Stories carry around 80% of the value. The article The bravest sentence in Discovery goes deeper.
When you close a Story as obsolete, leave its description as it is. The original idea has learning value. Record the reason for closing as a comment in the activity log ("Closed because …" or "Superseded by …").
Effect on velocity and forecast
- Only Stories that are Done and Closed count with their Story Points toward velocity. A Story that is done but still open does not count. Close it before you complete the iteration so its points are counted.
- Canceled Stories deliver no points. Their estimate is kept, so you can later see how big the thing you gave up was.
Workitems are not closed
Workitems have no Closed. They are finished as soon as they reach Done. An obsolete Workitem is simply deleted, as it carries no planning or historical value.