Writing User Stories For Engineers

This talk was given to Boston Product to inform product managers what engineers want from their stories.

Transcript

1. WRITING USER STORIES FOR ENGINEERS WITH JENNIFER KONIKOWSKI
2. TO GIVE SOME CONTEXT… Two separate engineering teams at two different companies LuvAds HospitalsRUs Industries: AdTech Healthcare Size (Total Eng): 60 5 Size (Team): 7 …5 Product Manager?: Yes, with team Yes? My boss
3. KEY DIFFERENCES LuvAds PM was in standups and could see projects as they progressed HospitalsRUs PM was also CPO. Only saw projects when they were almost complete.
4. SO WHAT MAKES A GOOD STORY?
6. WRITE LIKE YOU ARE WRITING FOR A KID
7. BUT ALSO…
9. PUT AS MUCH INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE
10. SO NOW FOR SOME EXAMPLES
11. STORY #1
12. As a content administrator, I can add Non- Manufacturer Extras (NME) to an Inventory item. NME's are items that are added to an Inventory item, but not listed in the Inventory Master. NME's only require a text description (name) and can include an optional photo and instructions (so we can port accessories). This is displayed on the inventory show page under the section: "Non-Manufacturer Extras" Delivery interface and booking modal must accommodate NMEs.
13. WHAT DOES AN NME REPRESENT? As a content administrator, I can add Non- Manufacturer Extras (NME) to an Inventory item. NME's are items that are added to an Inventory item, but not listed in the Inventory Master. NME's only require a text description (name) and can include an optional photo and instructions (so we can port accessories). This is displayed on the inventory show page under the section: "Non-Manufacturer Extras" Delivery interface and booking modal must accommodate NMEs.
14. WHAT DOES AN NME REPRESENT? As a content administrator, I can add Non- Manufacturer Extras (NME) to an Inventory item. NME's are items that are added to an Inventory item, but not listed in the Inventory Master. NME's only require a text description (name) and can include an optional photo and instructions (so we can port accessories). This is displayed on the inventory show page under the section: "Non-Manufacturer Extras" Delivery interface and booking modal must accommodate NMEs. HOW DO NME’S RELATE TO ACCESSORIES?
15. WHAT DOES AN NME REPRESENT? As a content administrator, I can add Non- Manufacturer Extras (NME) to an Inventory item. NME's are items that are added to an Inventory item, but not listed in the Inventory Master. NME's only require a text description (name) and can include an optional photo and instructions (so we can port accessories). This is displayed on the inventory show page under the section: "Non-Manufacturer Extras" Delivery interface and booking modal must accommodate NMEs. HOW DO NME’S RELATE TO ACCESSORIES? HOW IS IT SUPPOSED TO LOOK?
16. STORY #2
17. List of New Booking Requests for which I am a contact. As the inventory owner, I want to know what’s loaned out
 o I go to the My Equipment view
 o I click the “My Loaned Equipment” button
 o I see a list by date of what’s currently on loan, and upcoming bookings for all my equipment, with who the borrower is for everything Equipment now on loan shows the date of return
 I can see who has borrowed it.
 Future loans show who is requesting it and proposed date of return
 Future loans are sorted by date the equipment is borrowed, then date it is returned--so multi-day bookings that start the same day are sorted by date of return
 Future bookings are grouped by date range--so all equipment that leaves on the same day and returns on the same day is grouped under one heading. Notes If the owner declines a booking and the decline is approved, the line disappears from this screen altogether.
 If the owner declines a booking and then withdraws the decline, the item stays on this list and the "Cancel Booking" button reappears. There's no special notification that it went through a decline/deny cycle.
 Cancel booking uses the existing modal.
18. List of New Booking Requests for which I am a contact. As the inventory owner, I want to know what’s loaned out
 o I go to the My Equipment view
 o I click the “My Loaned Equipment” button
 o I see a list by date of what’s currently on loan, and upcoming bookings for all my equipment, with who the borrower is for everything Equipment now on loan shows the date of return
 I can see who has borrowed it.
 Future loans show who is requesting it and proposed date of return
 Future loans are sorted by date the equipment is borrowed, then date it is returned--so multi-day bookings that start the same day are sorted by date of return
 Future bookings are grouped by date range--so all equipment that leaves on the same day and returns on the same day is grouped under one heading. Notes If the owner declines a booking and the decline is approved, the line disappears from this screen altogether.
 If the owner declines a booking and then withdraws the decline, the item stays on this list and the "Cancel Booking" button reappears. There's no special notification that it went through a decline/deny cycle.
 Cancel booking uses the existing modal. STEPS TELL ME EXACTLY WHERE THIS FEATURE BELONGS
19. List of New Booking Requests for which I am a contact. As the inventory owner, I want to know what’s loaned out
 o I go to the My Equipment view
 o I click the “My Loaned Equipment” button
 o I see a list by date of what’s currently on loan, and upcoming bookings for all my equipment, with who the borrower is for everything Equipment now on loan shows the date of return
 I can see who has borrowed it.
 Future loans show who is requesting it and proposed date of return
 Future loans are sorted by date the equipment is borrowed, then date it is returned--so multi-day bookings that start the same day are sorted by date of return
 Future bookings are grouped by date range--so all equipment that leaves on the same day and returns on the same day is grouped under one heading. Notes If the owner declines a booking and the decline is approved, the line disappears from this screen altogether.
 If the owner declines a booking and then withdraws the decline, the item stays on this list and the "Cancel Booking" button reappears. There's no special notification that it went through a decline/deny cycle.
 Cancel booking uses the existing modal. STEPS TELL ME EXACTLY WHERE THIS FEATURE BELONGS SECTION TELLS ME WHAT INFORMATION TO DISPLAY
20. List of New Booking Requests for which I am a contact. As the inventory owner, I want to know what’s loaned out
 o I go to the My Equipment view
 o I click the “My Loaned Equipment” button
 o I see a list by date of what’s currently on loan, and upcoming bookings for all my equipment, with who the borrower is for everything Equipment now on loan shows the date of return
 I can see who has borrowed it.
 Future loans show who is requesting it and proposed date of return
 Future loans are sorted by date the equipment is borrowed, then date it is returned--so multi-day bookings that start the same day are sorted by date of return
 Future bookings are grouped by date range--so all equipment that leaves on the same day and returns on the same day is grouped under one heading. Notes If the owner declines a booking and the decline is approved, the line disappears from this screen altogether.
 If the owner declines a booking and then withdraws the decline, the item stays on this list and the "Cancel Booking" button reappears. There's no special notification that it went through a decline/deny cycle.
 Cancel booking uses the existing modal. STEPS TELL ME EXACTLY WHERE THIS FEATURE BELONGS SECTION TELLS ME WHAT INFORMATION TO DISPLAY WALKS THROUGH NEGATIVE CASES
21. Q: WHEN TO GIVE STORY FEEDBACK
22. A: ALL. THE. TIME.
23. TL;DL ‣ PMs should be integrated with the dev team ‣ Stories should include as much information as possible to reduce back and forth ‣ Write like the engineer who picks up your story is brand new to the company
24. THANKS! JENNIFER KONIKOWSKI @OBOESQUEAKS JENNIFERKONIKOWSKI.COM