How We Manage The Stories
A User Story
In agile development, a user story describes a specific feature or requirement from the end user’s perspective. It is a simple, natural language statement of a part, typically written in the format of “As a [user], I want [feature], so that [benefit].” User stories are used to define and prioritize a project’s requirements and guide the development team in understanding the goals and objectives of the project.
An Epic
An epic is a larger user story that contains several smaller user stories. It is a way to group related user stories, typically used to describe a high-level feature or requirement that is too big to be completed in a single sprint. An epic is usually broken down into smaller user stories that can be completed in one or more sprints so the development team can deliver the feature incrementally.
In agile development, user stories and epics are essential tools for the development team to understand the project’s requirements and deliver features that meet the end users’ needs. User stories and epics help keep the project’s requirements aligned with its overall goals and objectives, and they help ensure that the development team delivers value to the end users.
Tasks And Stories
In agile development, tasks and stories are two types of work items used to plan and track the progress of a project. The main difference between a task and a story is their level of granularity and the level of detail they provide.
A task is a small, specific work required to complete a user story or deliver a particular feature. Jobs are usually detailed and technical, often involving a specific action or procedure that needs to be performed. Tasks are often written in a checklist format and are typically assigned to a particular team member or developer.
On the other hand, a story is a higher-level, more abstract representation of a feature or requirement. User stories are written from the end user’s perspective and describe the quality or need of what the user wants to achieve. Decks are often written in a natural language format and are typically less detailed than tasks. They are used to define and prioritize a project’s requirements and guide the development team in understanding the goals and objectives of the project.
The main difference between a task and a story is the level of granularity and the level of detail they provide. Tasks are specific, technical, and actionable, while stories are higher-level, abstract, and user-centered. Tasks help to break down and implement stories.
For The Better User Stories
There are several principles, rules, and best practices for writing effective and efficient user stories in agile development:
- Write user stories from the end user’s perspective: User stories should be written from the end user’s perspective, using natural language and describing the feature or requirement in terms of what the user wants to achieve.
- Keep user stories small and independent: They should be small, self-contained, and independent so they can be easily understood and completed within a single sprint.
- Use the INVEST acronym: The INVEST acronym can be used to evaluate user stories, to ensure that they are Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable.
- Use the “As a, I want, So that” format: This format helps to communicate the user, feature, and benefit of the user story.
- Use acceptance criteria: Acceptance criteria must be met for the user story to be considered complete. They help to define what it means for the user story to be “done.”
- Prioritize user stories: User stories should be prioritized based on their relative importance to the project. This helps ensure the development team is first working on the most critical features.
- Use examples and scenarios: Examples and scenarios can provide more context and help the development team understand the user story more clearly.
- Use templates: Different templates are available for writing user stories, like the Gherkin language, to help ensure that all the necessary information is included in the user story.
Here’s an example of a user story:
As a customer, I want to view my account balance and transaction history online to manage my finances more efficiently.
Acceptance Criteria:
- The customer can log in to their account
- The customer can view their account balance
- The customer can view their transaction history
- The customer can filter and sort the transaction history by date, amount, and category
And here’s an example of an epic:
As a customer, I want to manage my finances online to keep track of my expenses and income, set budgets, and make financial projections.
This epic can be broken down into smaller user stories, like:
- As a customer, I want to be able to view my account balance and transaction history online
- As a customer, I want to be able to set budgets for different categories of expenses
- As a customer, I want to be able to make financial projections based on my income and expenses
By following these principles, rules, and best practices for writing user stories and using examples and templates, you can write more effective and efficient user stories that help ensure that the development team delivers value to the end users.