Seeing The BigPicture (For Jira)
Recently I was asked to investigate BigPicture, an addon for Jira, and assess the value it could provide to a software project.
After an investigation of the tools was complete, it made sense to publish the results so others could benefit from the research.
The Big Picture
BigPicture is a Jira Add-On that provides high-level project oversight of work completed in Jira through multiple lenses.
A user can choose to apply a number of modules to manage a body of work called a Program, which is then broken up into Program Increments (like phases) by default or Iterations (with a feature called Agile Schedule).
When a Program is created, a user defines the Program scope by adding Projects, Boards, Filters; then refines the results with a JQL filter.
There are 8 modules available in BigPicture, each providing a unique piece of functionality to the tool: Gantt, Scope, Board, Roadmap, Resources, Team, Risks and Reports.
Gantt Module
If configured for use, Gantt is the default module which displays in BigPicture.
It allows users to manage tasks using a Task View that visualises work in a task hierarchy (similar to Jira Plans) and visually displays the tasks in the corresponding Gantt View.
The Gantt View can use drag and drop functionality and map the dependencies between tasks. It’s also the place to perfect the presentation of the Gantt chart and do some last minute refinements to estimates.
Below are a list of other relevant features:
Perspectives
Multiple different perspectives (effectively views) of the Task View can be configured to display the fields which are applicable to the user. Different users may want to see different information about tasks.
Task Mode (aka Scheduling)
There are 3 modes you can use to control the way tasks are scheduled on the Gantt chart:
- Automatic (Parent…
