Invest In Good User Stories

INVEST in good user stories

Our project defines it’s requirements as User Stories

A user story is a description of what goals a user wants to achieve in the system

User stories are closely aligned to feature descriptions

User stories highlight the role of the user

The goal they are trying to achieve

And the value of that goal

As a <user type>
I want to <achieve a goal>
So that I can <get some value>

For more information there are references at the end of this presentation

There are good and bad user stories out there.

In the tradition of S.M.A.R.T. goals, Bill Wake advises us to I.N.V.E.S.T. in user stories

INVEST
I ndependent
N egotiable
V aluable
E stimable
S ized right
T estable

Avoid dependencies on other stories
Write stories to establish the system foundation
Combine stories for a single iteration (where appropriate)
Independent
Negotiable
Valuable
Estimable
Sized right
Testable

Stories are not a contract
Too much written detail – it suggests that there is no more to explore
Know when you can’t negotiate – some constraints are fixed
Independent Negotiable Valuable Estimable Sized right Testable

Show what the value of the story is for the customers and other stakeholders
Independent
Negotiable
Valuable
Estimable
Sized right
Testable

Sufficient detail needs to be present to estimate the work effort
Stories should be small enough to estimate, (but not too small)
Independent
Negotiable
Valuable
Estimable
Sized right
Testable

Stories should be small enough to complete in a sprint (2 weeks)
The closer a story is to being worked on the more specific it should be
Stories can start high level (epic) but they’ll need to be broken down later
Independent
Negotiable
Valuable
Estimable
Sized right
Testable

Acceptance criteria should be apparent in the user story
Tests should be automated wherever possible
User stories should not be commenced until they have clear acceptance criteria
Independent
Negotiable
Valuable
Estimable
Sized right
Testable

References
Extreme Programming Explored - William Wake
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12720/Extreme-Programming-Explored-William-Wake
Six features of a good user story
http://agilesoftwaredevelopment.com/blog/vaibhav/good-user-story-invest
INVEST in Good Stories, and SMART Tasks
http://xp123.com/xplor/xp0308/index.shtml
XP Practice: stories
http://agilesoftwaredevelopment.com/xp/practices/stories
User stories (in general)
http://agilesoftwaredevelopment.com/taxonomy/term/170/0

http://www.testertroubles.com	781
http://www.betterprojects.net	535
http://pragmaticstory.com	394
http://ruzuku.com	79
http://www.modernanalyst.com	66
http://www.slideshare.net	58
http://pragmaticstory.tistory.com	38
https://ruzuku.com	34
http://paper.li	18
http://a0.twimg.com	11
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http://twitter.com	4
http://modernanalyst.com	4
http://www.kristjankongo.com	4
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	4
http://www.pragmaticstory.com	3
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Invest In Good User Stories

by Craig Brown on Oct 09, 2008

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Invest In Good User Stories — Presentation Transcript