Improve your User Stories, INVESTing in them…

Steven Smith - INVESTing in User Stories

“User Stories describe features from the standpoint of the user, and should identify small units of work that can reasonably achieved within a short (1 or 2 week) iteration by a programming pair.  A useful acronym for remembering how to write good user stories is INVEST (more elsewhere and here).  A “good” user story is one that serves the needs of all of the stakeholders in the software development project, including the customer, the team lead (or PM), and the developer(s).  Ideally the story is recorded in short form on an index card (or electronic equivalent) and is a placeholder for a longer conversation that has taken place between the customer and the developer team.  Also ideally, it includes Acceptance Test criteria, which developers must ensure have been met before they consider the story complete.

The INVEST acronym for User Stories

User stories should be…

Independent – …

Negotiable – …

Valuable – …

Estimable – …

Small – …

Testable – …

…”

User Stories are an area I really need to work on. We just don’t do them well and we pay the price for it.

Some of the above items we’ve found through trial an error and some are common sense (which sometimes seems isn’t that common ;). Yet having having them together with a “business friendly” acronym is great.

I’ll be sharing this as the first part of our next Backlog Grooming session…