Poker Planning: Structure and Analytics

Task planning often turns into chaotic discussions: some participants underestimate, others overestimate, and debates drag on. Daylik makes poker planning transparent, controlled and measurable. Each estimate is recorded, the entire history is stored, and the team sees both the process and the results.

Process Analytics

Session Preparation

1. Basic settings

   • Session name
   • Card types: Fibonacci, Binary, Hours, T-shirts
   • Duration: 1 to 3 hours. After time expires, the session is automatically “sealed” and only available in the history.

2. Participants

   • Via the link, participants can select an existing teammate, create a new one, or edit one.
   • The same teammate can only log in once.

3. Host

   • The host prepares the tasks in advance so the team can immediately start discussion and estimation.

The maximum number of participants is limited to six. This is not a technical but a conceptual limitation. Larger groups lead to long discussions, distraction, repeated arguments. Six people is the limit where speed, structure and usefulness can still be preserved.

Poker Planning Process

During the poker session, participants go through three main phases: discussion, estimation and review. Each phase flows into the next: after the discussion, voting begins, then everyone sees the results and can review differences before the host submits the final estimate.

1. Discussion

   • The host selects a task and clicks Show Task. It becomes visible to all.
   • A support timer (3 minutes) starts for the discussion.

2. Estimation

   • The host switches the task to estimation mode. Participants get access to cards.
   • A support timer (1 minute) starts. If a participant does not choose a card, the Coffee card is selected automatically.

3. Review

   • Everyone sees each other's estimates and discusses reasons for differences.
   • The host can return the task for re-estimation or set the final estimate (consensus) and click Save.

Analytics After Planning

After the poker session ends, Daylik records all participant activity and the full timeline of each task. The data stays local and secure — nothing is shared with third parties. This is team-only statistics that enable analysis of the planning process, bottleneck detection and evaluation of task efficiency.

• Discussion duration
• Time spent on estimation
• Review phase duration
• Which estimates participants submitted
• Number of re-estimations per task
• Final estimate (consensus) for each task

Unlike most competing tools, Daylik stores the full history of every session along with analytics. No standard poker tool provides this level of transparency and control.

Visual Tools

• Highlights: cards with key outcomes and moments
• Table: detailed breakdown of each task

These data transform poker planning from a simple voting activity into a full analytical tool for team performance. It becomes possible to identify difficult tasks, understand discussion dynamics and optimize the process for future sessions.

Gamification

Daylik adds a light game-like touch: task highlights become visual titles that help the team see key moments and track progress:

• Everest — highest estimated task
• Popcorn — lowest estimated task
• Puzzle — task with the most re-estimations
• Clash — task with the longest review period

This visual analytics and highlighting allow the team to observe the planning process from the outside and understand session dynamics without turning it into a formality. Daylik lets the team trace discussions, re-estimations and final consensuses.