What is an epic?

Epic definition

The Epic refers to a large body of work in agile project management that can be broken down into smaller, more manageable tasks called user stories. An epic typically represents a high-level goal, feature, or initiative that requires multiple sprints or teams to complete.

What is an epic?

Understanding an epic is essential in agile development because it helps teams organize work at a strategic level. In project management, an epic provides a way to group related tasks that contribute to a larger objective. Once an epic is defined, teams break it down into smaller units of work to make progress more measurable and achievable.

Epics provide clarity and structure to complex projects. They allow teams to maintain focus on the big picture while still working iteratively through user stories or tasks that contribute to the epic’s completion.

Epics are especially useful in agile frameworks like Scrum or Kanban, where work is planned and delivered in smaller, time-boxed increments known as sprints. Depending on its size and complexity, a single epic might span multiple sprints or even require cross-team collaboration.

The purpose of using epics is not only to organize large amounts of work but also to make it easier to prioritize initiatives based on business value, customer needs, or technical dependencies. Epics also support backlog management, helping product managers and project leaders plan for both short-term tasks and long-term strategic goals.

In product management, epics often align with product roadmaps, representing larger features or improvements that align with business objectives. Once epics are defined, product teams break them down into user stories or tasks that are added to the product backlog.

Epic examples

Here are several epic examples that demonstrate how epics are used in different industries and project types:

Software development epic example

A software company developing a new mobile app might create an epic called "User Authentication System." This epic would include several smaller user stories, such as:

• "As a user, I want to create an account using email and password."

• "As a user, I want to reset my password if I forget it."

• "As a user, I want to log in using my Google account."

This epic provides a high-level goal (user authentication), but the team can work on each smaller user story independently within sprints.

Marketing campaign epic example

In marketing, an epic might be "Launch Summer Product Campaign." This epic would consist of multiple tasks or stories, such as:

• "Create social media graphics for campaign promotion."

• "Write blog posts related to summer product launch."

• "Develop an email marketing sequence for existing customers."

Each task contributes to the completion of the broader marketing epic.

E-commerce Epic Example

For an e-commerce business, an epic could be "Improve Online Checkout Experience." This might include:

• "Add guest checkout option."

• "Integrate multiple payment providers."

• "Optimize mobile checkout flow."

Breaking this epic into smaller stories allows designers, developers, and product managers to collaborate efficiently and deliver improvements incrementally.

Benefits of using epics in agile project management

Using epics in project management provides several key benefits:

• Helps teams maintain alignment on larger goals.

• Facilitates better backlog organization and prioritization.

• Breaks complex work into smaller, manageable pieces.

• Supports long-term planning while enabling short-term delivery.

• Enhances collaboration across teams working on related tasks.

Epics act as a bridge between high-level strategy and daily work execution, keeping teams focused on delivering business value while avoiding overwhelm from large tasks.

Wrap up

The epic definition highlights its role as a foundational tool in agile project management for organizing large bodies of work into smaller tasks. Understanding what an epic is helps teams plan, prioritize, and execute projects more effectively.

With clear epic examples, it’s easy to see how epics provide structure and clarity in software development, marketing, e-commerce, and beyond. Epics enable teams to stay focused on strategic goals while delivering incremental value to customers and stakeholders.