Story Mapping and Example Mapping Mashup Handouts

1. Mountain Goats on the Roof
Mountain Goats on the Roof is a mythical novelty restaurant in the Front Range mountains of
Colorado, inspired by the original Goats on the Roof restaurant in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Mountain Goats on the Roof is a fun family restaurant on the first floor, with a herd of goats that
lives on the roof. All of our menu items are goat-themed, and take advantage of the fresh goat’s
milk that we get from our herd.
Mountain Goats on the Roof restaurant wants to merge technology with our goat venture. Our
exercises in this workshop are our first steps.
Agile Testing Days 2016 Lisa Crispin and JoEllen Carter

2. Story Mapping Exercise 1
Our Mountain Goats on the Roof restaurant is hugely popular. We have to turn people away at
the most popular dinner times, and diners are disappointed that they are not able to dine with
our goats. With an online reservation system, diners can reserve a table in advance so that
they are guaranteed a fabulous meal at the time and date of their choice.
The story map is for our new online reservation system. We hope to have a working system in
place before the new year. What do you recommend for our Minimum Viable Product or
“MVP”? Why did you choose what you did?
Hints:
MVP is something we can build as quickly as possible that is enough to release to our
customers and get feedback. What are the “must-haves”? What could be done manually for now
and automated later?
Think about the minimum that ​needs​ to be automated vs. what can be done manually for
awhile.
There is no wrong answer.
Agile Testing Days 2016 Lisa Crispin and JoEllen Carter

3. Story Mapping Exercise 2
Mountain Goats on the Roof is now offering our delicious food for takeout! We need a way to
take orders. Eventually we’d like a slick mobile app that is as cool as we are, but are ok starting
with an online menu and manual phone orders. We would like a clear path to our mobile app
though, so we can decide whether to invest in the effort.
Help us create a story map for a takeout ordering system which starts with an online menu and
phone ordering, and ends with a mobile app or as far as you can get in 10 minutes.
Please use the colored sticky notes and flip chart paper. Save your work for posting on the wall
before the break so other groups can see your ideas.
Bonus​:​ Choose an MVP for our first release. Recommend additional release increments so we
can visualize how many iterations we have until our mobile app is complete.
Hints:
Role-play an agile team - let one person be the product manager who outlines the user activities
and tasks, while the rest of the team helps with story breakdown.
Start by creating your blue “walking skeleton” user tasks. What are the activities involved in
ordering takeout from an online service? Arrange them in the order the user would do them.
Group related user tasks and write a pink user activity “backbone” card to put above each
group.
“Walk” the skeleton and think of what stories would be needed to allow the user to do each task.
Remember that every activity does not needs to be broken down to the same level of detail.
Allow room for discovery. Focus on your MVP.
Agile Testing Days 2016 Lisa Crispin and JoEllen Carter

4. Agile Testing Days 2016 Lisa Crispin and JoEllen Carter

5. Story Mapping Exercise 3
Wow! Mountain Goats on the Roof is such a special experience that many of our customers
return over and over again. We want to reward our loyal customers with special discounts they
can earn by accumulating points for different activities. We built a story map, but alas! Grouchy
Goat head-butted me and I dropped all of my cards.
Help us arrange our cards back into a story map.
Hints:
Try identifying the user tasks and putting them in the order in which a user would typically
complete the tasks. This is your walking skeleton (blue cards).
Then group similar walking skeleton cards together and label each group with the appropriate
user activity (backbone) card that goes on the top line.
Walk the “skeleton” and decide where the story cards fit.
Agile Testing Days 2016 Lisa Crispin and JoEllen Carter

6. Example Mapping Exercise 1
Mountain Goats on the Roof takes reservations now! However, we want to make sure we are
accepting reservations in such a way that we maximize our revenue without sacrificing an
excellent dining experience. We developed a set of reservation rules and one or more
examples of each rule. Which cards represent rules and which cards represent examples? Sort
the cards into 2 piles, Rules or Examples.
Hints:
There is at least one example card for each rule card.
If you have any questions, write them on pink cards.
Agile Testing Days 2016 Lisa Crispin and JoEllen Carter

7. Example Mapping Exercise 2
Mountain Goats on the Roof is considering a takeout service so folks can enjoy our delicious
food at home. Our first feature will be to accept takeout orders so that we can increase revenue.
Our kitchen capacity is limited, so our takeout service must follow some rules so that our food
continues to be of the highest quality and our dining experience remains fabulous. What rules
for takeout orders should we consider? Will you please provide some examples?
Please use the colored sticky notes and flip chart paper. Save your work for posting on the wall
before the break so other groups can see your ideas.
Hints:
Use blue stickies for rules.
Use green stickies for examples.
Put questions on pink stickies.
Consider rules around order size, such as, limiting the number of main dishes a customer can
order for takeout. Think about preparation time per order, how payments will be made, and
when the restaurant dining room is the most busy.
As you think of a rule, think of at least one example that illustrates the rule.
Agile Testing Days 2016 Lisa Crispin and JoEllen Carter

8. Example Mapping Exercise 3
Divide your table into 2 groups - a Rules group and an Examples group. Appoint a timer for your
group.
Our story is: ​As a diner, I want to earn points on my loyalty card so I can
use them for free food & drink.
Part 1: Write examples from rules
Rules Group
Set the timer for 3 minutes. Open the envelope labeled ‘Rules’. Write at least one
example card for each rule and place the cards with examples in the envelope labeled
‘Examples’. Complete as many as you comfortably can.
Examples Group
Say hello to your neighbor. Exchange contact information.
Part 2: Guess rules from examples
Rules Group
Pass your envelope labeled ‘Examples’ to the Examples group. Say hello to your
neighbor. Exchange contact information.
Examples​ ​Group
Set the timer for 3 minutes. Read the examples and think about the story. Discuss what
rules would fit those examples. Write down your best guess for the rules. Complete as
many as you comfortably can.
Part 3: Have a conversation
Rules Group + Examples group
Set the timer for 3 minutes. How well did the Examples group do at guessing the rules?
What questions does the Examples group have? What other examples can the Rules
group think of to illustrate the rules?
Agile Testing Days 2016 Lisa Crispin and JoEllen Carter