Your User Stories Are BadAnd You Should Feel Bad

John Cleary

@TheRealBifter

http://joind.in/talk/view/9308

• What Are User Stories?• A Story About User Stories• Invest in better stories• Common Smells• Pro Tips• Examples

So, what are User Stories

The Card

The Conversation

The Confirmation or Acceptance Criteria

The Three Little PigsA Story About User Stories

Can you build me a house?

Yeah, but I need a User Story.

Story:As a Pig I want a house

so that I am safe and

warm

House 1.0

406 Not Acceptable

What up?

Wolf blew the house down!!!

Ah!* I think we need some Acceptance Criteria

* try www.developerexcuses.com

Acceptance Criteria:

Does the structure

withstand strong

winds?

House 1.1

301 Moved Permanently

How’s the house?

Gone

Ah!* I think the Acceptance Criteria need to be

measurable.

* try www.developerexcuses.com

Acceptance Criteria:

Does the structure

withstand strong winds

of up to 60mph?

House 2.0

200 OK

Hows the house?

Great - let’s celebrate!

Bacon Butties?

INVEST In Good User Stories

Independent

Negotiable

Valuable

Estimable

Small or Suitably Sized

These are small, but the ones out there are far away

Testable

IndependentNegotiableValuableEstimableSmallTestable

Common Smells

Too small

Dependent on other stories

Goldplating?

Too much detail

Too much planning

You* wrote them

*Assumes you are a developer and not an actual user.

Pro Tips

1. Know your users

2. Get users to write the stories

3. Run workshops

4. Use user proxies if the user is not available

5. Have project goals and sprint goals

6. If the story is too large, “slice the cake”

7. Know what estimates are for

8. Postpone design

9. Not everything is a story

10. Review your stories (use INVEST)

Examples

As a System Admin I need to review user activity

1

As a team leader I need to review team members activity so I can ensure

that staff are being productive.

1

As a valued customer I want to be able to see

special offers open only to me so I can grab a

bargain.

2

As the website owner I want to highlight certain products to registered

customer so I can increase profit!

2

A house hunter can view information about the estate agent from the

property description page

3

When viewing details about a house, a house

hunter may view information about the

estate agent

3

THE END!

Questions?

@TheRealBifterhttp://joind.in/talk/view/9308

Thanks!