1. User Stories in Interaction
Design
Hans Põldoja
Tallinn University

2. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative
Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California,
94105, USA.

3. What are user stories?
• User stories are simple, clear and brief
descriptions of functionality that will be valuable
for real users
• User stories are typically used in agile software
development methods such as XP and Scrum
• User stories build a bridge between the users,
designers and the developers

4. Start with paper cards

6. Paper cards
• User story
• Note(s)
• Test cases (on the back side of the card)
(Cohn, 2004)

7. Example
A company can pay for a job posting with a
credit card.
Note: Accept Visa, MasterCard and American
Express. Consider Discover.
Test with Visa, MasterCard and American Express
(pass)
Test with Diner’s Club (fail)
Test with good, bad and missing card ID numbers
Test with expired cards
(Cohn, 2004)

8. Good user story
• Independent
• Negotiable
• Valuable to users and customers
• Estimatable
• Small
• Testable
(Cohn, 2004)

9. Refine the user stories

11. Guidelines
• Start with goal stories
• Break large stories into smaller pieces
• Write closed stories (that finish with completed goal)
• Keep the UI out as long as possible
• Include user roles in the stories
• Write for one user
• Write in active voive
(Cohn, 2004)

12. Discuss and accept the
user stories

15. SCRUM process
• User stories are discussed and edited by the
users, designers and stakeholders
• User stories are accepted by product owners
• Enhancement tickets are created from accepted
user stories

16. Photos
• Paul Downey, http://www.flickr.com/photos/psd/3731275681/

17. References
• Cohn, M. (2004). User Stories Applied For Agile Software Development.
Boston, MA: Addison Wesley.

18. Thank You!
• hans.poldoja@tlu.ee
• http://imkedesign.wordpress.com