Slides from presentation to Kitchener Waterloo Software Quality Association Group (KWSQA) on February 25, 2015. Topic was Journalists' Tips for Software Professionals. Focus - curious conversations to define user stories that support the purpose of your product.

1. Get the Story
Before you Write the Story
Reporters’ Tips for Software Professionals

2. PLEASE NOTE
SLIDES ≠ PRESENTATION
• These slides are designed to be viewed in
conjunction with a human being talking and
interacting with you.
• They may not make much sense to you if you were
not at the live session.

3. FIT
FOR PURPOSE

4. What’s going on here?
“Here’s something to test.” “Here’s something to check out.”
TESTER REPORTER

5. Today’s Story
Why
stories?
Reporter
techniques
Exercise
Use in
your world

6. Please hold your questions
until you have one

9. Image: https://help.rallydev.com/agile-primer

10. Functional Tests
Story Tests
Prototypes
Simulations
Exploratory Testing
Scenarios
Usability Testing
User Acceptance Testing
Apha/Beta
Unit Tests
Component Tests
Performance + Load Testing
Security Testing
“ility” Testing
Business Facing
Technology Facing
CritiqueProduct
SupportingtheTeam

11. User Story Formula
• As a ___________________
• I want to _______________
• So that _________________
WHO
WHAT
WHY
People
Action
Expected outcome

12. User Story Formula 2.0 (Job Story)
• When _________________
• I want to _______________
• So that ________________
WHAT
WHAT
WHY
Circumstances
Motivation
Expected outcome

13. STORYSTORY

14. Curiosity is more useful than knowledge when you’re after a story!

15. Reporter Story Formula
• WHO?
• WHAT?
• WHEN?
• WHERE?
• WHY?
• Who are you?
• What do you want?
• What are you going to do
about it?
As a
I want to
So that

16. We’ve evolved
to share
information
through stories
Image: Lascaux Caves, France

17. Our brains
love a story!
Illustration: Nadir Balan

18. Why should we
care about stories?

19. What’s
the
story
here?

20. A story has a spine

21. Once upon a
time . . . And ever since
then . . .
CURRENT REALITY BETTER FUTURE
The Spine of a Story

22. Everyday Life
Everyday Life is
Changed
CURRENT REALITY BETTER FUTURE
The Hero’s Journey

23. A dream come true

24. A dream come true
Once upon a time, a man was cursed (he knew not how or by whom) to suffer
restless nights of tossing and turning on the world's most uncomfortable bed.
Morning after morning he awoke stiff and bleary-eyed and yawned his way
through the tiresome days.
Many approached him with promises of a better night's sleep, but alas! Their
promises were as empty as his wallet after forking over his hard-earned silver for
"designer" mattresses that were as lumpy and unforgiving as a sack full of peas.
He had almost given up hope of ever having a good night's sleep. Until one day,
he heard from a mysterious stranger about a merchant whose magical mattresses
could break even the most powerful of sleeping curses. And he wouldn't even have
to sign away his first-born child to purchase it!
The man was skeptical: who could break a powerful curse for such a reasonable price? Still, the merchant's offer was too good to refuse (a 100-day trial
with full refund and free shipping!?), so he tried this special curse-breaking mattress, which the merchant had named "Casper." The man could tell that
Casper was special the moment it arrived at his door. Its look, its feel - everything about it was so unlike any other mattress he had ever seen. Was it too
much to hope that it could break his curse?
He lay down on it with trepidation. He had been made false promises before. But Casper embraced him gently, and he drifted off to sleep. That night,
the man slept soundly. He dreamed dreams he had never dreamed before. And the next morning, he awoke more refreshed and invigorated than he could
ever recall in his entire life. Casper had lifted his curse! This Casper was indeed a work of marvelous craftsmanship and unparalleled value. The man could
not imagine having more wisely spent his silver. His restless nights were a thing of the past, and he lived happily ever after.

25. Group exercise
• You’ll have 8 minutes.
• Create a brief story that you imagine might have
led to the development of one of the products on
the cards.
• Then we’ll share the stories.

26. Who should I talk with?
• Anyone involved
• People impacted
• Ask, “Who else should I talk with?”
Sometimes, there is no “oracle”

27. Navigate through CURIOSITY

28. Marcus Raetz – Yes or No
Things are
not always
what they
seem

30. How do I get people to talk with me?
• “If you don’t tell your story, someone else will.”
• “You’re affected. You’ll know what a good outcome will be for you.”
• “This story/product will be better with your perspective.”
• Relationships

31. What should I ask them?
• Navigate through curiosity
• Be like a child
• Not the time to show off your knowledge
• Rather than features, focus on value – relate to behaviour
• Focus on helping those who use the products
Better stories create better users!

32. Different voices
Purpose
Motivations
Aspirations
Context
Emotion

33. FIT
FOR PURPOSE

34. Tiny Habits
• Pick one idea to start with
• Try it for a week
• Watch what happens
Adapt
Deliver
Inspect

35. Sue Johnston
sue@itsunderstood.com
@itsunderstood
CONVERSATION:
THE MOST
POWERFUL TOOL
YOU WILL EVER
USE