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Difference Between Transparency And Visibility

Last post 03:39 pm November 12, 2018 by Daniel Wilhite
4 replies
Beenish Zaidi
04:41 am November 12, 2018

Hi folks,

I am reading scrum guide. I am forced to think, what is the difference between transparent and visible?

Are not they the same concepts?

Thanks,

Beenish

Ian Mitchell
05:53 am November 12, 2018

Something which is visible is not necessarily comprehensible to observers. The Scrum Guide says the following regarding transparency:

Significant aspects of the process must be visible to those responsible for the outcome. Transparency requires those aspects be defined by a common standard so observers share a common understanding of what is being seen.

Beenish Zaidi
05:59 am November 12, 2018

So ian, are we saying that, transparency makes aspects visible and comprehensible.

Susan Hunter
08:02 am November 12, 2018

It is sure that the things which transparent in nature are sometimes visible to us.

Daniel Wilhite
03:39 pm November 12, 2018

Here is how I view it.  

Visible means that it can be seen by anyone that needs to see it. Transparency means that it can be understood by anyone that can see it. 

Having a list of things that only the person that wrote it can understand doesn't really help anyone even if it is visible.  

dictionary.com has a definition of transparent as

easily seen through, recognized, or detected

So transparency indicates that the visible PBI's meanings can be recognized and the reason for them can be detected.

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