The document discusses the importance of integrating measurement into user stories to enhance product management and innovation. It emphasizes the need for continuous learning and iteration in product development while addressing challenges such as user story backlog and operational silos. The author calls for data-driven decision-making and effective communication within teams to align goals and improve outcomes.

1. John Cutler | Senior Product Manager | Pendo.io | @johncutlefish
Not An Afterthought: Interweaving
Measurement Into User Stories

2. where stories go to die …where we get things donewhere we shuffle things constantly
Backlog The Sprint
User Story
Black Hole

3. I wanted to build stuff people
use … that they value. But then
I just checked out
Sell. Sell. Ship. Ship. Guess.
Guess. New Project. Guess
It’s easy to start phoning it in …

4. Test Coverage
Defects over time
Budget vs. actual cost
Test pass/fail over time
Iteration burdown
Velocity
Planned vs. actual release dates
Individual hours per iteration/week
Cumulative flow chart
Work-in-Process (WIP)
Apparently, I’m being
measured. Does the
Product Manager have a
“passing test”?
Roadmap Review
My idea! My idea!
My idea!
My idea! My idea!
My idea!

5. As a product manager, I can see the
[Feature Name] feature finished in two
weeks, so that I can approve it
Sadly, sometimes this happens in the real world

6. Idea
Validate Pain
Talk To Them
Sell
Sell
Hurry
Build
Scale
Execute
Whoops
Boom!
Another Miss
UX Debt
Silos
Feature Soup
Growth Slows
Hurry
And um, product, can you innovate? Optimize? And do it on budget?
Align
Intuition
Tech Debt
Restructure
Measurement Debt Rocket Ship
Consultants
LinkedIn
Learning Debt
Time to be
data-driven
Too little
Too late
Learning

7. Experiment
Iterate
Test
Explore
Tinker
Mission
vs
Ship
Plan
Commit
Accountability
Velocity
Feature
Consider the power of words.

8. DATA
LEARNING CONTROL
IMPACT
INNOVATION
PREDICTABILITY
BLAME
Trust?
VALIDATION
ITERATION CONFIRMATION
Y N

9. CONVERGE
DIVERGE
EXPLOITEXPLORE
Cast a wide net
Validate learnings
Try various solutions
Converge on solution

10. Conversations
Stories
Details
For
Perspective
To Explore
Arc
Drama
Actors
User
Story
Pictures
Safety
Diversity
Converge
Diverge
Time
Sequence
Place
Pain
Enemies
Desires
not a requirement

11. Given [Context]
When [Event]
Then [Outcome]
Dan North and Chris Matts as part of Behavior-Driven Development (BDD).
Example: GIVEN that people are
perpetually in need of social
gratification, AND THAT they enjoy
seeing news from their friends,
WHEN they encounter a “feed” of
friend related news-snippets, THEN
they will spend hours online, and
may even click on ads.

12. As a user a [who], I
want [outcome], so
that [some reason] …
Add this to dashboard
Add tracking to the click of
this on that
Verify that we are logging
refreshes
I need to pull this graph once a
week for my meeting
Um. Hey Team.When you’re done with
the story, I might have some
So I’ve got this story …

13. Happier
Relationship
Less Stressed
Higher
Quality Sleep
Exercise
Mattress
More
Exercise
Better Diet
More
Sleep
Less Sugar
More
Water
Bit More
Intensity
Work
Work Less
More
Breaks
More Us Time
Renewals
NPS
Divorce?
Break T/day
Mg/meal
Kg Per Lift
Calories Hours
Time w/o Kids
Satisfaction
Rating
L/day
Food Log
VO2max
Blood
Pressure
Growth in 7d
avg sleep
Morning
Check In
NPS
wk/wk decrease
Lagging Leading
Why What
Outcome Experiment

14. Plan Build Build Build Ship
Plan Build Build Ship
We will “listen” for feedback
Plan
Let’s get “ahead”
of the next project
Feature A
Feature B
Feature C
Measure
A Powerful Mission
Measure
Learn Learn Learn
Build
Ship Ship Ship Ship Ship
Learn
PlanPlanPlanPlanPlanPlan
Um …Measure
Where’s Feature A?
Can I see?
Measurement and learning happens continuously. Not sporadically
Learn
Learning is siloed, or doesn’t happen at all …

15. comparative
understandable
ratio or a rate
change how you behave
You can iterate on this.You won’t get it right the first time …

16. DATA
LEARNING CONTROL
IMPACT
INNOVATION
PREDICTABILITY
BLAME
Trust?
VALIDATION
ITERATION CONFIRMATION
Y N

17. Let’s Chat! Questions?