Manager of Technical Delivery Shannon Lucas gave this how to guide on constructing renowned user stories for CapitalCamp DC.

1. Crafting Great
User Stories
Shannon Lucas
July 23rd, 2011

2. Outline
What and why
Writing stories
User roles & personas
Things that aren’t stories
Tracking stories
Examples

3. What a user
story isn’t

4. Functional
Requirements
Defined by IEEE 830
Contractual in nature
Example:
3.4) The product shall have a gasoline-powered engine.
3.5) The product shall have four wheels.
3.5.1) The product shall have a rubber tire mounted to
each wheel.
3.6) The product shall have a steering wheel.
3.7) The product shall have a steel body.

5. Use Case
Part of Rational Unified Process (RUP)
Large in scope
Permanent artifacts
Purpose is to document agreement

6. Interaction Scenario
Detailed description of a user’s interaction
with a system
Larger in scope than a use case
Emphasis on realism and detail
Characteristics:
Setting
Actors
Goals
Events

7. What a user
story is

8. What a User Story is
Expresses functionality in terms of value to
customers or users
Uses the language of the customer
Cross-cuts technical concerns
Emphasizes shared understanding

9. Cross-cutting
concerns
Single User Story

10. Cross-cutting
concerns
Single User Story

11. Why user
stories?

12. Benefits of stories
Focus is on user goals rather than system
attributes
Defer detail till needed
Promote tacit knowledge across team
Humans remember stories
No illusion of precision
Stories are not contractual obligations

13. Writing stories

14. Structure of a User
Story
Written Description
As a <user role>, I want to <goal> so that <benefit>.
Conversation
Confirmation

15. Acceptance criteria
Conditions of satisfaction
Need to be specified by the customer
Written before the programmer begins
coding
Should clarify the intent of the story to the
developers
Must be testable

16. Qualities of a User
Story
Fit on an index card
Written for a single user
Written in active voice
Written in language of the business
Avoid UI and technical details

17. Qualities of a User
Story
I - Independent
N - Negotiable
V - Valuable
E - Estimable
S - Small
T - Testable

18. User roles &
personas

19. User Roles
There’s no generic “user”
Each role is a single user
Can be humans or other systems
Abusers
Extreme characters

20. Personas
Imaginary representation of a user role
Has a name, a photo, and a bio
Has an explanation of their motivations for
using the product

21. Things that
aren’t stories

22. Things that aren’t
stories
Constraints
Models & Workflows
Storyboards
Wireframes

24. Storing &
tracking stories

25. Storing and tracking
stories
Specialized tools
Post-It notes
Spreadsheets

26. Example Stories

27. Abuser Story
As l33th@x, I want to put malicious content
on the home page so that I can embarrass the
company for not hiring me.

28. Bad User Story
As a user, I want to register for a volunteer
event so I can begin fundraising.

29. Good User Story
As a volunteer, I want to create an account so
that I can share my availability for
volunteering to event planners.

30. Bad User Story
As a volunteer I want to create an account so
I can log in.

31. Good User Story
As a donor, I want to donate to my friend's
fundraising event online, so I can support her
charity efforts.

32. Bad User Story
As a staff member, I want to be able to train
new staff quickly and efficiently using print or
online resources, so that they can feel
comfortable quickly.

33. Good User Story?
As a political candidate, I want to participate
in online discussions with potential voters so
that I can understand what's really important
to them.

34. Questions?

35. Thank you!

36. Resources
Scrum.org - http://www.scrum.org/
Scrum Alliance - http://www.scrumalliance.org/
All Things Product Owner - http://www.romanpichler.com/blog/user-stories/
User story tools: http://www.userstories.com/products
User Stories Applied by Mike Cohn