User stories are short, simple descriptions of a feature told from the perspective of the end user. They are typically used in agile software development methods to facilitate communication between users, designers, and developers. User stories are written on index cards or paper and include the story, any additional notes, and test cases. They should be independent, negotiable, valuable, estimatable, small, and testable. The user story process involves discussion and editing by stakeholders, acceptance by product owners, and creation of work tickets from the accepted stories.

1. User Stories in Interaction
Design
IFI7156 Interaction Design Methods

2. 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

3. Start with paper cards

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

6. 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)

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

8. 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 voice
(Cohn, 2004)

11. SCRUM process

14. 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

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

16. Photos
• Rool Paap, http://www.flickr.com/photos/roolrool/4468175996/
• Paul Downey, http://www.flickr.com/photos/psd/3731275681/

17. Hans Põldoja
hans.poldoja@tlu.ee
Interaction Design Methods
http://ifi7156.wordpress.com
Tallinn University
Institute of Informatics
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-sa/3.0/