User Stories are narratives that foster collaboration, guide development and drive meaningful outcomes.
But many use them as containers for requirements.
So here's User Stories 101:
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1. Why?
A User Story is written from the perspective of a user who wants to derive value from the product.
It should focus on the user's desired outcomes and be embedded in the context where the user seeks value from the product.
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2. How?
The basic format of a User Story:
WHO: As a [user type]
WHAT: I want [action to perform]
WHY: So that [the desired outcome]
A prerequisite to working with User Stories is understanding the users, ideally segmented by their needs and desired outcomes.
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3. Effective User Stories: 3C's
The 3 C's of User Stories are Card, Conversation, and Confirmation.
They are essential for writing a good User Story.
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- Card
A card explaining WHO, WHAT, and WHY. They once were physical cards, but today, we create User Stories in tools like Jira.
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- Conversation
Rather than creating a detailed specification, discuss the reasoning behind the User Story.
Everyone needs to understand how the User Story will benefit the users, how it will contribute to your objectives, and how it aligns with your strategy.
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- Confirmation
Confirmation refers to the Acceptance Criteria that should be fulfilled to ensure the requirements have been met and delivered correctly. It's a concise checklist, not detailed test cases.
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4. The INVEST User Stories
INVEST is an acronym representing the essential qualities of well-written User Stories:
- Independent: Each User Story should be self-contained and not depend on other stories.
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- Negotiable: The details of the User Story can be discussed and negotiated with the team and the stakeholders.
- Valuable: The User Story delivers value to the user.
- Estimable: It should be possible to estimate the effort required to complete the User Story.
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- Small: User Stories should be small enough to be completed within a single iteration. If you do not work in iterations, you might assume 2-4 weeks as the rule of thumb.
- Testable: There are clear criteria to determine if the story has been successfully implemented.
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Those qualities are desirable. But do not obsess over the acronym.
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5. How to Split User Stories?
Some User Stories are too big to be selected for the implementation.
You must break them into smaller, more manageable pieces to deliver value faster and, ideally, start learning from customers using your product for real.
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- Epic: A larger element, typically combining 5-15 smaller User Stories (that's context-specific).
- User Stories: Small, manageable items.
- Tasks: Used to plan and monitor the exact work performed by Engineers. PMs have nothing to say here.
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Some add more layers, but in my experience, you don't need that.
It's crazy what results PMs can get with ChatGPT-4o.
But just a few write good prompts.
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The 9 most powerful techniques:
1. Communicate the Why 2. Explain the strategic context 3. Clearly state your objectives 4. Specify the key results (desired outcomes) 5. Provide an example or template
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6. Apply the thinking hats technique 7. Set constraints and limitations 8. Provide step-by-step instructions 9. Explain a specific technique (the Internet is often wrong)
A Product Trio is a fundamental concept for product teams.
But contrary to what many believe, it is not:
- A framework to follow
- A strictly defined set of roles
- An exclusive group that performs product discovery alone
Three pieces of advice:
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1. Reject working in silos
You do not want silos in your Product Trio. Product Discovery is teamwork.
I loved insights from "Lean UX," in which Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden argue that while everyone has a core competency, allowing others to contribute in any area results in more engaged, more effective teams.
"Silos are the death of collaborative teams." - Lean UX
A picture is worth a thousand words: OKRs vs. KPIs vs. Metrics
When comparing OKRs and KPIs, many forget a critical aspect - the relationships between them.
In short, the Key Results in the OKR always refer to quantitative metrics, some of which might be KPIs.
Let's dive into more details.
1. What are OKRs?
OKR stands for “Objectives and Key Results.” The 2 components:
- Objective (What, When): A qualitative, inspirational, time-bound goal for a team to focus on. Typically set quarterly.
- Key Results (What): Quantitative metrics (typically three) that monitor progress towards the Objective.
OKRs are about:
- Setting a single, inspiring goal.
- Empowering a team to determine the optimal way to achieve it.
- Continuously monitoring the progress, learning from failures, and improving.