User Stories
Introduction to user stories and how to write them effectively.
User Stories _**_are the building blocks of Agile projects and represent the fundamental unit of communication and tracking progress. An Agile process is driven by the completion of stories, each of which provides tangible, demonstrable value to the user/customer/stakeholder. A sprint consists of a set of conscientiously prioritised stories.
Format
It's best to use a format for each story that identifies who the user is, what they need, and for what purpose (the why). Such stories are written in this format:
“As a ____, I need a ____ in order to ____”.
who: someone with a particular functional role, who holds a certain title, comes from the perspective of a persona, or embodies the needs and behaviours of a hypothetical user.
what: details in specific terms the need, feature, or functionality desired by the who. This is what your project team will build into the product or service.
why: states the value. It presents the needs of your users and customers up front and centre.
Example: “As a jazz fan, I need a tuning knob in order to find a jazz station on the radio that I will enjoy listening to."
Keys to a valuable user story
Good user stories follow the INVEST model:
Independent
Negotiable
Valuable: A story must have value to someone. It must make the product better in some way. Avoid exotic/one-off stories (i.e. edge cases).
Small
Testable
“Clean up the bugs we introduced in the last sprint” is NOT a user story because it does not add anything to the product.
Prioritising user stories
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