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Writing Effective User Stories: As a User, I Can Express a Business Need in User Story Format To Get the IT Solution I Need
User Stories are a great method for expressing stakeholder requirements, whether your projects follow an Agile, Iterative, or a Waterfall methodology. They are the basis for developers to deliver a suitable information technology (IT) app or application. Well-structured user stories express a single action to achieve a specific goal from the perspective of a single role. When writing user stories, stakeholders knowledgeable about the role should focus on the business result that the IT solution will enable while leaving technology decisions up to the developers. Good user stories are relevant to the project, unambiguous, and understandable to knowledge peers. The best user stories also contain crucial non-functional (quality) requirements, which are the best weapon in the war against unsatisfactory performance in IT solutions.This eBook presents two common user story structures to help you ensure that your user stories have all the required components and that they express the true business need as succinctly as possible. It offers five simple rules to ensure that your user stories are the best that they can be. That, in turn, will reduce the amount of time needed in user story elaboration and discussion with the development team.This eBook targets business professionals who are involved with an IT project, Product Owners in charge of managing a backlog, or Business Analysts working with an Agile team.Angela and Tom Hathaway are the founders of BA-EXPERTS, a training and consulting company for "anyone wearing the BA hat (TM). They have authored numerous training courses and publications. Tom and Angela have facilitated hundreds of requirements discovery sessions under a variety of acronyms (JAD, ASAP, JADr, JRP, etc.). Working as a team, they strive to expand the base of skilled business analysis practitioners and business professionals around the world by sharing their experience and expertise in training seminars, blogs, books, videos, and public presentations.
68 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 29, 2013
72 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 4, 2024
This does what it promises in the title. No more, no less. It’s short and to the point, and arguably could have been a long blog post.
The 5 rules are all fine, though a little obvious. However, they’re also easy to forget so it’s a helpful list to have just a prompt / reminder.
They give lots of examples and links to associated material. There’s a bit of a plug for their consulting / training business at the end, but it’s not overdone compared to other books like this.
As a quick read-through / reminder on user stories, it’s written clearly and does what it needs to.
However, there are no major “wow” insights or much that I hadn’t seen elsewhere. It’s just a solid and succinct recap of some key principles.
Reading it, slightly reminded me of corporate IT training sessions from many years ago, in that at times the tone was a little simplistic, it often repeats itself, and the graphics all look like they were done in PowerPoint circa 1997.
A functional book on user stories if that’s what you want / need.
The 5 rules are all fine, though a little obvious. However, they’re also easy to forget so it’s a helpful list to have just a prompt / reminder.
They give lots of examples and links to associated material. There’s a bit of a plug for their consulting / training business at the end, but it’s not overdone compared to other books like this.
As a quick read-through / reminder on user stories, it’s written clearly and does what it needs to.
However, there are no major “wow” insights or much that I hadn’t seen elsewhere. It’s just a solid and succinct recap of some key principles.
Reading it, slightly reminded me of corporate IT training sessions from many years ago, in that at times the tone was a little simplistic, it often repeats itself, and the graphics all look like they were done in PowerPoint circa 1997.
A functional book on user stories if that’s what you want / need.
February 28, 2018
Inexpensive, worthwhile, quick read
Perfect for anyone just getting started with user stories. It provides simple step by step rules to think about as you are writing stories to create the clarity needed to get the best result from the developers for the business users.
Perfect for anyone just getting started with user stories. It provides simple step by step rules to think about as you are writing stories to create the clarity needed to get the best result from the developers for the business users.
July 5, 2020
Good but basic
Good content, structure and examples, but very basic.
Unfortunately, most of the links from the ’More’ sections didn’t work in my eReader.
Good content, structure and examples, but very basic.
Unfortunately, most of the links from the ’More’ sections didn’t work in my eReader.
November 3, 2015
Libro corto que te puedes leer en un rato. Trae material extra, como links, pdf, videos y otras cosas que podría interesarte.
Lo que me gusto es que lo escribe tan claro y muy fácil de entender.
El inglés que maneja no es muy avanzado.
Lo que no me gusto son las imágenes que utiliza, son muy viejas, interesante si utilizará una infografía sobre sus 5 reglas (posible mejora).
Se lo recomiendo solo a los que trabajan o trabajaran con historia de usuario, si no lo has escuchado antes ese termino, no es necesario que lo compres, ya que los tips que da la autora son para que los pongas en practica y mejores tus historias
Lo que me gusto es que lo escribe tan claro y muy fácil de entender.
El inglés que maneja no es muy avanzado.
Lo que no me gusto son las imágenes que utiliza, son muy viejas, interesante si utilizará una infografía sobre sus 5 reglas (posible mejora).
Se lo recomiendo solo a los que trabajan o trabajaran con historia de usuario, si no lo has escuchado antes ese termino, no es necesario que lo compres, ya que los tips que da la autora son para que los pongas en practica y mejores tus historias
April 12, 2025
A concise, no-frills intro to user stories—handy but not groundbreaking.
This compact guide provides a basic framework for structuring user stories, laying out clear rules and two common formats. It’s well suited to newcomers or busy Product Owners needing a quick refresher on best practices in requirement gathering.
However, it’s pretty bare-bones: the content can be found for free online in more depth, and the layout is plain, with few real-world examples. Still, if you’re seeking a short, straightforward handbook on writing user stories, it’s a decent pick.
This compact guide provides a basic framework for structuring user stories, laying out clear rules and two common formats. It’s well suited to newcomers or busy Product Owners needing a quick refresher on best practices in requirement gathering.
However, it’s pretty bare-bones: the content can be found for free online in more depth, and the layout is plain, with few real-world examples. Still, if you’re seeking a short, straightforward handbook on writing user stories, it’s a decent pick.
February 28, 2015
Good tips
Very quick tips... good for beginners! It is really a practical guide for quick learners and put them into practice.
Very quick tips... good for beginners! It is really a practical guide for quick learners and put them into practice.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews