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The (Unteapped) Power of User Stories

The (Unteapped) Power of User Stories

For many Agile teams, “stories” are really requirements given a different name, or merely to-do list items written in an awkward format. Too often each “story” requests a specific technical implementation of a presumed solution. But it hasn't always been this way. In the beginning of years, when the world was new, there was extreme programming, and XP drew a distinction between story telling and problem solving.

Presented at CukeUp 2014. Full video is online at https://skillsmatter.com/skillscasts/5099-the-untapped-power-of-user-stories

Nat Pryce

April 03, 2014
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  1. As a: business I want: to reduce bandwidth usage So

    that: we save costs As: a device I want: the disk drive not to spin up when in standby mode So that: power regulations
  2. As a: business I want: to reduce bandwidth usage So

    that: we save costs As: a device I want: the disk drive not to spin up when in standby mode So that: power regulations As: a business analyst I want: the developers to increase the velocity So that: we deliver faster
  3. As a: business I want: to reduce bandwidth usage So

    that: we save costs As: a device I want: the disk drive not to spin up when in standby mode So that: power regulations As: a business analyst I want: the developers to increase the velocity So that: we deliver faster As: the customer I want: it ALL to fucking work So that: people don’t get fired
  4. As a: Hobbit I want: to drop the One Ring

    into the fires of Mount Doom So that: Middle Earth is free from Sauron’s menace
  5. As a: Hobbit I want: to drop the One Ring

    into the fires of Mount Doom So that: Middle Earth is free from Sauron’s menace As a: Hobbit I want to: sneak into the lair of Smaug the dragon under the Misty Mountain So that: … ??? ...
  6. As: a user I want: to register to be emailed

    when the game is released So that: I can buy it as quickly as possible.
  7. As: a user I want: to register to be emailed

    when the game is released So that: I can buy it as quickly as possible. In order to: make a big hype about the game when it's released As: Fred, the Marketing guy I want: users to register for an email about the release.
  8. I wanted a jam sandwich but didn't have any ingredients

    in the house I went to the shop to buy bread butter and jam. Then went I home and ate a delicious jam sandwich
  9. I wanted a jam sandwich but didn't have any ingredients

    in the house I walked through the pouring rain to the shop to buy bread butter and jam Then went I home and ate a delicious jam sandwich
  10. I wanted a jam sandwich but didn't have any ingredients

    in the house I walked through the pouring rain to the shop to buy bread butter and jam Then went I home and ate a delicious jam sandwich
  11. Aristotle’s Poetics “... the proper construction of the Fable or

    Plot … has beginning, middle and end, … the hero passing by a series of probable or necessary stages from misfortune to happiness or from happiness to misfortune.” Aristotle, Poetics. 335 BCE. Translation by Ingram Bywater, 1920.
  12. “Story: One thing the customer wants the system to do”

    eXtreme Programming Explained, Kent Beck, 1999 The XP White Book
  13. “A User Story is a story, told by the user,

    specifying how the system is supposed to work” Ron Jeffries http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?UserStory XP Discussion on the C2 Wiki
  14. In What is Extreme Programming?, Ron Jeffries does not use

    the term “User Story” at all, but uses “Feature” instead. http://xprogramming.com/what-is-extreme-programming/ XP Today