Elements of an inspiring User Story

All projects involving a product or service should create impact for a User. Enabling investors or reviewers of subsidies to understand who the User is, their unmet need and the added value the project provides will take you halfway to getting a project funded. This article provides a short overview of the key elements a powerful User Story must have.

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A User Story should be focused and composed of only four elements:

❶ Value Statement. For this, we advise on the use of a simple formula:

As a … [who], I want/need… [what, e.g. functionality], so that… [why is it important].

Although in theory this is a simple structure, in practice it can be quite difficult to narrow down a value statement to these key components. A prerequisite of creating a clear Value Statement is to empathize with the User (who) and ask the right questions when considering them.

❷ Key Assumptions. This element is crucial in designing the project plan. It limits the development based on additional considerations for a User Story, Product or Service, by capturing ① any non-functional requirements needed for implementation, ② details of why the User Story is important, ③ existing standards, influences or reference architectures that must be met and ④ constraints based on previous work. Creating a set of assumptions enables the project team to understand the bounds of development and the solution space.

❸ Acceptance Criteria. This element sets the objective for the product or service to be created, by stating what thresholds must be passed. Ideally, these are logical and/or numerical in nature. The Acceptance Criteria are NOT restatements of the Value Statement. They should clearly define the primary use and detail all tests that will be run to validate the Story.

❹ Definition of “Done”. An often-ignored part of the User Story, this captures all the standard requirements for completing it, such as: standard approvals, review/feedback from stakeholders, prototyping (if needed), documentation, design constrains. Completing this step provides a clear set of expectations around quality control and sustainability.

At Bee Granted, we have extensive experience in creating compelling User Stories. Get in touch with us if you want to develop your concepts further.