Planning Poker Card Decks Explained: Fibonacci, T-Shirt and More

Planning Poker Card Decks Explained

The card deck shapes how your team thinks about uncertainty. Different decks work better for different maturity levels and types of work.

Fibonacci

Fibonacci is the most common deck for software teams. The gaps grow as stories get larger, which matches the fact that larger work carries more uncertainty.

T-shirt sizes

T-shirt sizes such as XS, S, M, L and XL are useful for early roadmap conversations and non-technical stakeholders because they avoid false precision.

Powers of 2 and custom decks

Powers of 2 create larger jumps and can work for infrastructure or platform teams. Mature teams may define custom decks for risk, business value or domain-specific sizing.

Recommendation

Start with Fibonacci. After several sprints, adapt the deck only if the team has a clear reason and understands the trade-off.