User Stories
Fundamentals
Moises Armani Ramirez
What is a User Story?
Short, simple descriptions of a
feature told from the perspective
of the person who desires the new
capability, usually a user or
customerof the system (Mike Cohn)
Functional increment (Agile Alliance)
Why writing User
Stories?
• To improve the product
incrementally
• To speed up feedback
To invite the team for a conversation
Who can write User
Stories?
Anyone.
How to write User
Stories?
As a ______ (who is it for?)
I want to ______ (What does the
user want to do?)
so that ______
(Motivation/problem being
solved)
I.N.V.E.S.T.
I
Independent
N
Negotiable
V
Valuable
E
Estimable
S
Small
T
Testable
Practice 1: Writing User Stories
• The problem: The client has a website that
offers Agile courses and would like to keep users
informed about the latest news on Agile.
• Task: Write one or more user stories explaining
the problem of the client.
As a ______ (who is it for?)
I want to ______ (What does the user want to do?)
so that ______ (Motivation/problem being solved)
Practice 1: Writing User Stories-
Examples
As a site visitor, I can read current news on the home page so that I
stay current on agile news.
As a site visitor, I can access old news that is no longer on the home
page, so that I can access things I remember from the past or that
others mention to me.
As a site member, I can subscribe to an RSS feed of news (and
events?) so that I remain sufficiently and easily informed.
As a site editor, I can assign priority numbers to news items, so
that I can indicate which articles I want featured most prominently
on the site. Note: Items are displayed on the front page based on
priority.
https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/uploads/documents/example-user-stories.pdf
Acceptance criteria
Given ______ (some context)
When ______ (some action is
carried out)
Then ______ (a set of observable
consequencesshould obtain)
Practice 2: Writing Acceptance
Criteria
• The problem: The team now needs to define
acceptance criteria(s) for the user story (as part of
the Definition Of Ready).
• Task: Write one or more acceptance criteria.
Given ______ (some context)
When ______ (some action is carried out)
Then ______ (a set of observable
consequences should obtain)
Where to start?
The Three C's
by Ron Jeffries
Card
Conversation
Confirmation
Where to start?
Story Mapping
by Jeff Patton
Goals
Activities
Tasks
Stories
Horizontal and Vertical
User Stories
Story Splitting
Tasks
User Stories
Epic
Support to
multiple user
profiles
As a Portfolio
Manager...
Create new... Update the...
As a Trader...
Remove the...
https://dilbert.com/strip/2003-01-10
https://agilemanifesto.org/
Working software
over
comprehensive documentation
References
• https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/a
gile/user-stories
• https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/agil
e-glossary/
• https://www.deltamatrix.com/horizontal-
and-vertical-user-stories-slicing-the-cake/
• https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/bl
og/story-mapping-visual-way-building-
product-backlog
Thank you!
@armaniramirez
armaniramirez@gmail.com

User Stories Fundamentals