"Can I have my cake and eat it too? Of course, as long as it is one slice at a time!" Revisit proven strategies and patterns to create small pieces of useful, testable functionality, and explore strategies for getting stories to “ready” and “done”.

1. Be Ready, Be Done:
The Art of User Stories
raj.indugula@lithespeed.com
Raj Indugula

2. Your experience with slicing stories…
I’ve done it before
I understand the concepts,
but haven’t practiced much
It’s new to me
2

3. • Thinking in Stories
• Spli;ng Stories
• Q & A
3

4. Thinking
in Stories
1

5. As a …
I want to …
So that …
Desired Func,on (What?)
What do they want the
system to do?
What’s in a Story?
Outlines a given user segment’s need and our value
proposiHon
User Role (Who?)
Who will use this funcHon?
End Result (Why?)
What larger goal of the
user does this support?
It’s merely a
thinking tool!
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Mike Cohn's template

6. The 3 C’s of a User Story
Ron Jeffries
6

7. What
makes
a good
story?
INVEST
Independent
NegoHable
Valuable
EsHmable
Small
Testable
Bill Wake
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8. Splitting
Stories
2

9. The Big Picture
Easier to define upfront How?
Why?
Discussion
reminder
Adapted from ALM Summit3 - TechTalk
Goal /
Outcome
Big Chunks
Smaller
Chunks
9

10. Slicing Vertically
10
Too big Don’t slice
horizontally
VerHcal slice enables feedback,
validaHon, prioriHzaHon

11. StrategiesforSplitting
Stories 11

12. Useful when…
Initial story describes a
workflow or sequence of
steps
Key Questions
Can you take a thin slice
through the workflow first?
Can you do the beginning
and end of workflow first?
As a learner, I want to
register for a class
and pay for it using a
credit card so that I
am better informed
about Agile
As a learner I
can view
courses
As a customer
I can select the
course I want
to signup for
As a learner I
can review my
registration
As a learner I
can submit my
registration
WORKFLOW STEPS
12
IllustraHon derived from Kent McDonald

13. Useful when…
Initial story encompasses
multiple operations (e.g.
“manage” or “configure”
something)
Key Questions
Can you split the
operations into separate
stories?
Are all these operations
necessary just yet?
As a training
provider, I want
to manage my
course offerings,
so that learners
can view them
…I can
make
upload my
course
catalog
…I can
add a
course
…I can edit
a course
…I can
delete a
course
OPERATIONS
13

14. Useful when…
Initial story impacts
multiple roles and the
impact is different for each
role
Key Questions
Can you identify the
various roles impacted?
Are all roles relevant right
now?
ROLE
As a training
coordinator,
I want to
register a
learner for a
class
As a learner, I
want to register
for a course so
that…
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As a learner,
I want to
register for
a class

15. Useful when…
Initial story does
something to different
pieces of data
Key Questions
Can you split the story to
process one kind of data
first and enhance with
the other kinds later?
DATA BOUNDARIES
…view
course
name and
description
…view
course
agenda
view course
instructor
qualifications
As a learner, I
want to view
course
information, so
that...
15

16. Useful when…
Initial story has a simple
core functionality that
provides most of the
value
Key Questions
Could you split the story
to do that simple core
first and enhance it with
additional stories later?
SIMPLE FIRST, THEN ENHANCE
As a learner, I want
to see my past
courses, so that…
…see all my
past
courses
…see
courses
completed
on a given
topic
…see
courses
completed
in the past 2
months
16

17. Useful when…
There is significant effort
in doing the first story
even after applying
obvious split
Key Questions
Does it matter which one
we do first?
Can we group the other
stories, given the difficult
first story is done?
MAJOR EFFORT
…pay with
one credit
card type
…pay with all
credit card
types (given
credit card
processing
functionality
is in place)
As a learner, I
want to pay for
my class with
Visa, American
Express, or
MasterCard, so
that…
17

18. Useful when…
Initial story is about
interacting with multiple
instances of something
Key Questions
Does working with nothing
or one thing make it
easier to get started?
Do we really need to deal
with multiple instances
right now?
As an online
shopper, I want to
delete items from
the shopping cart,
so that…
…delete
one item
at a time
…delete
collection
of items
from my
cart
ZERO, ONE, MANY
18

19. Tease out the business rules, and examples that
clarify a user story
Rule Rule Rule
Story
Example
Example
Example
QuesHon
AssumpHon
Example Mapping: Maf Wynne
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RULES & EXAMPLES
Acceptance
Criteria
Acceptance
Scenarios

20. Useful when…
None of the patterns
seem feasible and team
is still baffled about
splitting the story
Key Questions
What are the key
uncertainties?
SPIKES
Spike:
Investigate
translation
capability
As a learner, I
want to see the
course offerings
in the language
of my choice so
that…
20

22. Zone of Control & Sphere of Influence
Deliverable (I Want…)
CONTROL INFLUENCE
CONTROL INFLUENCE
User Need (So That…)
Good stories
Fake,
Misleading
stories
Not
AcHonable
UnrealisHc
22 Gojko Adzic

23. 23

24. Of course you can have your cake
and eat it too…
As long as it is a SLICE at a Hme!
24

25. References
Books
• Fifty Quick Ideas to improve your User Stories, Gojko Adzic
• User Story Mapping, Jeff Patton
• User Stories Applied, Mike Kohn
Articles
• http://agileforall.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Story-Splitting-Cheat-Sheet.pdf
• http://www.slideshare.net/arsenalist/splitting-userstories
• http://idiacomputing.com/pub/UserStories.pdf
• http://www.slideshare.net/kentjmcdonald/21-story-splitting-patterns-49940134
• http://blog.jbrains.ca/permalink/how-youll-probably-learn-to-split-features
• https://cucumber.io/blog/2015/12/08/example-mapping-introduction
• http://blog.agilistic.nl/8-useful-strategies-for-splitting-large-user-stories-and-a-cheatsheet/
Ask me for more!
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26. Thanks!
Raj Indugula
raj.indugula@lithespeed.com
Agile Coach, Trainer, Developer
20 years in industry; 13 years of Agile
Passionate about learning, can’t do without checklists, craves
whiteboards!
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