This was a 1h very interactive session at NYC Scrum User Group on May 19, 2016, to talk about how to split user stories. These slides just set the stage, most was talk not recorded here.

1. 1 Agile Training and Coaching - © 2016 Petri Heiramo, Agilecraft Ltd, Finland
Thou Shalt Split Thine
User Stories
NYC ScrumUser Group – May 2016
Petri Heiramo, CST, Agilecraft Ltd
(in collaboration with CollabNet, Inc.)

2. 2 Agile Training and Coaching - © 2016 Petri Heiramo, Agilecraft Ltd, Finland
Why User Stories (or similar)
Activities
Features
Requirements
Integration
Architecture
Deployment
Documentation
Testing
…

3. 3 Agile Training and Coaching - © 2016 Petri Heiramo, Agilecraft Ltd, Finland
Why User Stories (or similar)
Component
Layers
Features
UI / Presentation
Database / Model
Control

4. 4 Agile Training and Coaching - © 2016 Petri Heiramo, Agilecraft Ltd, Finland
So, onto Splitting Stories
• Maintain vertical orientation
• Each substory still delivers some end-to-end value
(either capability or learning)
• Find at least three different ways to split
• Each using different “splitting strategy”

5. 5 Agile Training and Coaching - © 2016 Petri Heiramo, Agilecraft Ltd, Finland
Extract a Smaller User Story…
... by focusing on a particular user roleor persona ("Prioritizeyour users first, then your user stories."
-- Jeff Patton),e.g. "first time user", "social networker","mymom","Jack"
... by substituting basic utility forusability (first makeit work,then makeit pretty)
... by splitting on CRUD (Create,Read, Update, Delete) boundaries
... by focusing on distinct scenarios, such as "happy day" and exception flows
... by focusing on a simplified algorithm
... by buying some component(s) instead of building everythingyourself
... by discarding technologies that increasehassle, dependency, and vendorlock
... by substituting somemanual processes instead of full automation
... by substituting batch processing instead of online processing
... by substituting generic instead of custom
... by reducing supported hardware/OS/clientplatforms
… from the acceptance criteria of another story
... by substituting "one"instead of "many"
... by scanning for keywordslike "and", "or",periods, and other kinds of separators
... by separating an implied subfeaturefrom the mainstory
This list uses ideas by Bill Wake, Lasse Koskela, Mark Levison, and Jeff Patton. List originally
composed by Michael James. More info:
http://xp123.com/articles/twenty- ways-t o-split- storie s/
http://radio.javaranch.com/lasse /2008 /06 /13/121337 510732 8.html
http://agilepainrelief.com/note sfromat ooluse r/20 10/0 9/story- slicing-how- small- is- enough.html
http://www.amazon.com/User-Story- Mapping-Jeff-Pa tton/dp/144 930455 9

6. 6 Agile Training and Coaching - © 2016 Petri Heiramo, Agilecraft Ltd, Finland
Story 1
As a member, I can log in to
the website, so that I can
access my personal data

7. 7 Agile Training and Coaching - © 2016 Petri Heiramo, Agilecraft Ltd, Finland
Story 2
As car mechanic, I can easily
fix/replace all parts with
typical tools available, so
that I don’t have to acquire
specialized tools.

8. 8 Agile Training and Coaching - © 2016 Petri Heiramo, Agilecraft Ltd, Finland
Story 3
As a project manager, I can
add a name of a person that
submitted the change
request to the CR, so that I
can remember who to
contact for more information