What does the 'I' in the INVEST acronym stand for?

The 'I' in the INVEST acronym stands for Independent. This principle is crucial in the context of agile methodologies, particularly regarding user stories. When a user story is independent, it means that it can be developed and delivered without being dependent on other user stories. This independence facilitates parallel development, reduces risks, and allows teams to prioritize tasks more effectively, resulting in a smoother workflow and quicker delivery.

By ensuring user stories are independent, teams can achieve greater flexibility in planning and executing work. Each story can be tackled on its own merit, which helps to minimize bottlenecks that might arise from dependencies. As a result, teams can adapt more easily to change and deliver incremental value to stakeholders without waiting for interconnected tasks to be completed. This aligns with agile principles of responsiveness and efficiency in the development process.