User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With
by Rivi Aspler
Devout Agile evangelists will define a user story as a short, simple description of a feature told from the perspective of the person who desires the new capability. The user story will typically follow a simple template: As a <type of user>, I want <some goal> so that <some reason>.
And furthermore, while a product backlog can be thought of as a replacement for the requirements document of a traditional project, it is important to remember that the written part of a user story (“As a user, I want…”) is incomplete until the discussions about that story occur and the discussions are those that actually enrich the user stories with enough details that R&D teams can chew on.
So much for theory and now for practice….
I have found that the concise user stories are simply not enough. It is especially apparent when one or more of the following occurs:
Since all of the above is my day-to-day reality, at my company, we are using the following guidelines for a user story template.
- We are using a table format.
- The left column of the table is dedicated to the ‘meta-data’ of the various definitions.
- Each user story has the same ‘meta-data’ topics listed down so that the PO and the developers can easily understand each-other.
- The user story defines a very granular scenario.
- The other user stories that complete the ‘Place an Order’ Theme are detailed in other user stories (i.e. the references to US19, US38 and US39)
- A UI design is attached since one picture is always better than a thousand words…
| Number | US37 |
| Theme | Placing an Order |
| Role |
|
| Priority | Critical |
| User Need | As a user, I want to confirm billing and shipping information |
| Starting Point | User has selected the items to be purchased |
| User Flow |
|
| UI Design |  |
| DoD |
|
| Default Values | For a registered shopper, the billing and shipping addresses are the ones that were defined as default addresses (US 19) |
| Alternative Flow 1 | US 38 – The user will discover an error in the billing or shipping information associated with their account, and will edit it. |
| Alternative Flow 2 | US 39 – The user isn’t a registered shopper and doesn’t have pre-defined shipping and billing addresses |
To conclude, the above detailed template may not stick to pure Agile recommendations, but it does represent a win-win best practices for the type of definitions that developers practically need in order to get your story coded.
Rivi
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Related posts:
- Stories about users and User Stories
- User stories should be implementation free
- My Agile Product Backlog Template
- 4 Product Management Success Stories
- Socks in awe: Customer interviews vs. User observation
This is almost exactly the way, we’re defining user stories, very useful! However, I didnt get how the “agile training board” is connected to the article. Is it explained in another post?
Thanks Nicolai!
The Agile training board image was attached since when I started working with Agile, the Agile-trainers said that the board is just enough to get everyone on the same page.
Luckily, we soon realized that the card board should be treated as a reference board to the detailed user stories.
Rivi
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User Stories that Developer can Actually Work With http://t.co/fktLUm7H #prodmgmt #agile
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
Reading: User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With http://t.co/jC4CouHT #baot #iiba
What you have essentially created is a Use Case, but if it works for you then that’s all that matters. Its nice to see non-traditional examples of Agile to see how people adapt a methodology to fit their company culture and needs.
Most people I’ve run into use a blended approach of agile methodologies anyway so examples like these are very helpful.
The example does demonstrate a blend between a user case and a user story. Is it close to aether one? I guess its in the eyes of the beholder…
It is interesting to read in your comment the fact that most people create some sort of a blended template. In my opinion that goes a long way to show that pure out-of-the-box Agile is ignoring real-life challenges.
Rivi
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
User Stories that Developer can Actually Work With http://t.co/ZNNmYkoW #prodmgmt #agile
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
“@MelissaHui: User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/5MepUvZe” umm… Use cases?
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
RT @onpm: User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With http://t.co/5DX3JM9G
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
User Stories that Developer can Actually Work With http://t.co/BM9ZufxY #prodmgmt #agile
RT @onpm: User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With http://t.co/zRqs6ebV #prodmgmt #agile #userstory
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With http://t.co/EXSWAhUg
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With http://t.co/EXSWAhUg
Blending User Stories with Use Cases to get the best of both worlds http://t.co/hooFOpYw
I like this post–but the #prodmgmt #fail is in the comments full of repeated tweets. Cheap=awful here. http://t.co/Zt4xJuJ1
I like this post–but the #prodmgmt #fail is in the comments full of repeated tweets. Cheap=awful here. http://t.co/Zt4xJuJ1
I like this post–but the #prodmgmt #fail is in the comments full of repeated tweets. Cheap=awful here. http://t.co/Zt4xJuJ1
I like this post–but the #prodmgmt #fail is in the comments full of repeated tweets. Cheap=awful here. http://t.co/Zt4xJuJ1
I like this post–but the #prodmgmt #fail is in the comments full of repeated tweets. Cheap=awful here. http://t.co/Zt4xJuJ1
I like this post–but the #prodmgmt #fail is in the comments full of repeated tweets. Cheap=awful here. http://t.co/Zt4xJuJ1
I like this post–but the #prodmgmt #fail is in the comments full of repeated tweets. Cheap=awful here. http://t.co/Zt4xJuJ1
I like this post–but the #prodmgmt #fail is in the comments full of repeated tweets. Cheap=awful here. http://t.co/Zt4xJuJ1
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With | http://t.co/Zt4xJuJ1 #prodmgmt #agile
User Stories that Developer can Actually Work With http://t.co/D0CHpgyN #prodmgmt #agile #techcomm
Currently Reading: User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With http://t.co/7u3dCBRe
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With: http://t.co/gSiHjwSb
RT @afox98: User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With http://t.co/kJ4GwJOG / a "use story"?
User Stories That Developers Can Actually Work With http://t.co/h76gz7Xb
User Stories that Developer can Actually Work With http://t.co/jhwB2b6s #prodmgmt #agile
User Stories that Developer can Actually Work With http://t.co/jhwB2b6s #prodmgmt #agile
User Stories that Developer can Actually Work With http://t.co/cHvewrBk #prodmgmt #agile
User Stories that Developer can Actually Work With http://t.co/cHvewrBk #prodmgmt #agile