Here’s a perspective on the challenges and techniques towards writing delightfully effective user stories. What methods do you employ? #theproductsketch #userstories #userstory #storysplitting #product #agile #productdevelopment #productmanagement #productowner #productdesign #productbacklog #spidr #invest

1. EFFECTIVEEFFECTIVEEFFECTIVE
USER STORIESUSER STORIESUSER STORIES
CHALLENGES & BEST PRACTICESCHALLENGES & BEST PRACTICESCHALLENGES & BEST PRACTICES
Writing delightfully
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2. In Agile, units of work to be
undertaken are represented as
'USER STORIES'. They describe what
the user's world must look like so
that they can be built and tested by
Agile teams.
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3. user stories typically
follow this format...
As a
WHAT USER
I want to
do what
so that i can
accomplish what?
Who
< R O L E >
Whot
< F U N C T I O N >
Why
< V A L U E >
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4. while the best practice is to JUST capture
user needs without getting in to too much of
implementation level details,
BUILD/TEST TEAMS might want to add
non-user specific / tech stories TO PLAN
& DELIVER WORK BETTER. AND IT TAKES
EFFORT TO GET THERE!
the original user story could LEAD THE
DEVELOPER TO JUST BUILD FOUNDATIONAL
capabilities that must be built
sequentially in order to deliver the
intended functional story.
what all must go into a story?
that's when teams usually get into a deadlock!
I have a
problem!
- Developer
@TheProductSketch

5. the solution in such situations is to split a
big user story into smaller workable items.
Rather than building each layer of the cake
one at a time and testing it sequentially, the
best practice is to aim to deliver a slice of the
cake with multiple layers, that will maximize
value in terms of shorter feedback loops, faster
learning and reducing wastage!
If the goal was to make a cake consisting of
different layers, one way to do it is to make
and test each layer sequentially before
bringing all of them together.
1
2
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instead, it's important to deliver them in
vertical slices!

6. the best practice to efficiently split stories using
mike cohen's spidr method involves evaluating
opportunities to split across these 5 areas...
Spikes
Paths
InterfaceData
Rules
If there is a need for research &
development or proof of technology based
knowledge building for the team, spike
stories might be needed.
If stories involve alternative
paths, evaluate if it makes
sense to split into multiple
stories so that it can help the
team prioritize and deliver
better.
When multiple interfaces are
targeted like web, mobile, wearables
etc., specific stories to handle each
variation might be helpful for
prioritization and planning.
If there are decently sized
requirements surrounding
handling of specific data or data
types across layers, there could be a
potential opportunity for splitting.
Rules are ideal
candidates to be split so
that problems can be
broken down into smaller
chunks, to help the team
better understand, build
and test incrementally.
@TheProductSketch

7. using this method, break big stories
into smaller ones. but break only the
ones where it makes sense! practice.
User Interface
Database
Backend API
using this the Product owner can break down
stories without having to depend too much on the
dev team. this enables dev to collaborate
quickly, split tasks, estimate and accomplish the
"delightfully effective" stories!
Think cake slices!
BIGBIGBIG
USERUSERUSER
STORYSTORYSTORY
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example

8. And, a good user story should follow
the famous invest mnemonic from bill wake
IIINDEPENDENTNDEPENDENTNDEPENDENT
NNNEGOTIABLEEGOTIABLEEGOTIABLE
VVVALUABLEALUABLEALUABLE
EEESTIMABLESTIMABLESTIMABLE
SSSMALLMALLMALL
TTTESTABLEESTABLEESTABLE
standalone backlog item that can
be delivered without dependencies.
have room for change; not a
contract! not written in stone.
offer value for the targeted
persona in smaller increments.
team is able to estimate the
effective story fairly easily.
small enough to be developed and
tested in a sprint.
acceptance criteria and definition
of done make them testable!
@TheProductSketch

9. what methods do you follow to write
"delightfully effective" user stories for your
teams to consume, collaborate and deliver?
@TheProductSketch
@TheProductSketch
THE
PRODUCT
SKETCH
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