INVEST Model
Independent
E.g.: The report will be developed and run on the new reporting central.
Negotiable
E.g.: Customer can pay with all major credit cards
Valuable
E.g.: Audit logs from all servers will be spooled combined to one log at night.
Estimable
When developers lack the domain or technical knowledge, it is often difficult to estimate the story.
Small
Stories shouldn’t be epics
E.g.: All logged transactions will be synched to the financial accounting package.
Testable
Continuous integration involves features that can be automatically tested as the iterations evolve. Developing code to meet this requirement should be foremost consideration.
E.g.: Database populates with the available items for purchase within the user’s price requirement within 3 seconds can be automated
E.g.: All workflows can be completed in 5 minutes is not testable even under the manual testing considerations.
Release and Iteration Planning sessions
User stories as customer centric deliverables instead of use cases
Sticky Notes to represent user stories in a visible location
Written by business representative in whiteboard planning session.
Include acceptance criteria