The golden formula for strong user stories

In the world of software development, it's all about collaboration. The business wants to deliver value to the end user or customer, while IT is the one that brings this value to life. But how do you ensure that what IT builds actually matches what the business needs? That's where user stories show their strength: they bridge these two worlds and provide a shared understanding of what needs to be built and why.

Within our own way of working, The Golden Path, user stories are indispensable. They promote communication, help to align expectations and ensure transparency within the development process. In addition, they prevent too much crucial knowledge from just one person, so that the work remains transferable. And last but not least: user stories record what has been agreed, so that we always have a basis to fall back on.

What is a user story?

A user story describes a change or functionality from the user's perspective. The structure is simple but powerful:

If [role], I want [desired functionality], so that I [value that provides the functionality].

But a good user story goes beyond this sentence alone. It's about three key questions: who do we do this for, what needs to change and why does this provide value? The latter is perhaps the most important question. A user story should help solve a problem or create a better experience for the end user. That is why it is crucial that business and IT keep in constant contact with each other to test whether we are still on the right track.

More than just a sentence

While the basic structure of a user story is simple, more is needed to give real direction to a development team. That's why a user story always consists of extra context.

First of all, we describe the current situation: how are things now and why we want to make this change? This helps everyone better understand the need and impact. Next, there are the acceptance criteria. These are the measuring points that allow us to determine whether the change has actually delivered value. They must be specific and testable so that there is no room for interpretation.

A user story without acceptance criteria is like a joke without a punchline — it misses the core of what makes it impactful. Finally, it is also important to define the scope. What are we not including in this development? This prevents a user story from getting out of hand and helps the team stay focused.

A user story without acceptance criteria is like a joke without a punchline

For whom is the user story important?

A user story has different stakeholders. Internal stakeholders want to understand how it contributes to customers, users and business operations. The customer himself must be able to recognize the value of the change. Developers need clear functional direction to build a good solution, while testers use acceptance criteria as a basis for their test plan. Support and management also benefit from a well-documented user story, so that they can better maintain and support the software.

Definition of ready

Not every user story is immediately ready to be picked up in a sprint. That is why we use the Definition of Ready, a checklist with which we test whether a user story has been sufficiently developed. A user story must comply with the Invest principles (Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable). In addition, the scope must be clear, including what is out of scope, and the change compared to the current situation must be clearly described. Only when these requirements are met is a user story ready to be realized.

Keep having the real conversation

Strong user stories ensure better communication, clear expectations and ultimately a product that adds real value. That is why it is important to always remain critical: dare to ask questions if something is unclear and regularly check with the customer whether the user story actually solves the right problems. In this way, we ensure that business and IT build solutions that really matter together.

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Do you want to bridge the gap between your business and IT departments, so that they will work together better and in a more focused way? Then you've come to the right place. Get in touch with Hans Borkent for more information and immediately receive our popular cheat sheet for scrum events.

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