MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Version: 20180804 Understanding the big picture and creating value by building stuff that matters. User Story Mapping 101 

[email protected] @metmajer Innovation Technologist & Strategist. Founder at GetCloudnative. Open Source Maintainer. Martin Etmajer 

Why User Story Mapping? 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 4 The Flat User Story Backlog priority things to be done Do stuff... Do more stuff... Do even more stuff... SPRINT 1 SPRINT 1 SPRINT 2 SPRINT 2 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 5 The Flat User Story Backlog priority Observation 1: Know What You‘re Building? Arranging user stories in the order you build them doesn‘t help when you want to answer the question „What does the system you‘re building do?“ to others. things to be done Do stuff... Do more stuff... Do even more stuff... SPRINT 1 SPRINT 1 SPRINT 2 SPRINT 2 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 6 The Flat User Story Backlog priority Observation 2: Know How Things Relate? You can‘t see how everything fits together. Making decisions on what to build next is difficult. Sure you haven‘t forgotten about important features? things to be done Do stuff... Do more stuff... Do even more stuff... SPRINT 1 SPRINT 1 SPRINT 2 SPRINT 2 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 7 The Flat User Story Backlog priority things to be done Do stuff... Do more stuff... Do even more stuff... SPRINT 1 SPRINT 1 SPRINT 2 SPRINT 2 Observation 3: Know You Build The Right Things? You can‘t see how your users experience the product. Planning coherent, value-driven releases is diffult. 

What is User Story Mapping? 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 9 What is User Story Mapping? „User Story Mapping is about telling a story and breaking it down into smaller parts.“ Jeff Patton 

What is User Story Mapping? The Standard Reference „Discover the whole story, build the right product.“ 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 11 The User Story Map 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 12 The User Story Map wall, whiteboard or flip chart paper sticky notes 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 13 The User Story Map Users Who are your users and what are their goals? 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 14 The User Story Map User Tasks („Walking Skeleton“) Things a user does to achieve a goal. Starts with a verb, e.g., „Send Email“. 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 15 The User Story Map User Activities („Backbone“) Groupings of similar tasks. 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 16 The User Story Map User Stories Flesh out the user journey in detail: Sub-tasks, alternatives, exceptions, etc. 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 17 The User Story Map Narrative Flow Tell a day in your users‘ life from left-to-right and top-to-bottom. (Build up all features at a time.) 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 18 The User Story Map Release Slice Identifies the smallest number of user stories for each task. Achieves your user‘s goals. Goal 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 19 The User Story Map A Simple Example Search View Product Listing View Product Page Find Product View Product Search By Name View Names View Description 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 20 Construct, Visualize and Communicate the Big Picture Understand what you‘re going to build, for whom, why and when you‘re going to build it. Collaboratively Build Shared Understanding User Story Mapping enforces open conversations and collaboration in and across teams. Set Priorities and Build the Right Things Discern the must-haves from the should-haves and the could-haves in context. Minimize output and maximize outcome (don't just build more things faster)! Allocate Teams and Plan Releases Identify and address risks in early iterations. Allocate teams around a coherent, incremental product release roadmap. User Story Mapping Benefits 

How to User Story Mapping? 

Preparations (Step 0) 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 23 User Story Mapping Step 0: Preparations wall, whiteboard or flip chart paper sticky notes 4-6 people (cross-functional including real user) 

Frame the Product (Step 1) 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 25 User Story Mapping Step 1: Frame the Product § Which problem is your product going to solve? § Who are the users of your product? § How does your organization benefit from building the product? 

Map the Big Picture (Step 2) 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 27 User Story Mapping 2. Map the Big Picture 1. Identify the things users can do (user tasks) with your application. Tips ‣ Start with the user most critical to your product‘s success. Add users as they enter the story. View Product Search Product Login Buy Product View Similar Products always starts with a verb 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 28 User Story Mapping 2. Map the Big Picture 2. Group similar tasks into named clusters (user activities). View Similar Products Search Product Find Product Add to Basket View Product Select Product Login Manage Users always starts with a verb Pay Product Checkout 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 29 User Story Mapping 2. Map the Big Picture 3. Bring activities and tasks into an order in which users would complete them. Login Manage Users View Similar Products Search Product Find Product View Product Select Product Add to Basket 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 30 User Story Mapping 2. Map the Big Picture 4. Tell the narrative and confirm all relevant activities and tasks have been captured. Register Manage Users View Similar Products Search Product Find Product View Product Select Product Login Aah, sure! 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 31 User Story Mapping 2. Map the Big Picture Tips ‣ If telling the narrative doesn‘t feel right, your product design may have gaps. ‣ You can add activities or tasks that don‘t fit into the narrative to the end of the map. ‣ If a user story appears multiple times, that‘s ok. Use markers to denote its importance. (Duplicate stories indicate key features and functionalities of your product.) 

Explore the Story (Step 3) 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 33 User Story Mapping 3. Explore the Story 5. Break down high-level tasks into more detailed user stories that build incremental value. Login via OAuth View List of Max. 10 Results View Product Search via Full-Text Search Login View Similar Products Search Product View Product Add to Basket Add to Basket 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 34 User Story Mapping 3. Explore the Story 6. Investigate alternatives and exceptions by asking… § „What could go wrong?“ § „Wouldn‘t it be good if…?“ § „What else might users do?“ Search via Full-Text Search Search Product What if there are many results? View List of Max. 10 Results View Similar Products How to do efficiently? 

Slice Out Releases (Step 4) 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 36 User Story Mapping 4. Slice Out Releases 7. Arrange each task‘s user stories in a priority order from top (highest) to bottom (lowest). if unsure, compare relative user story values against one another View Product Description Search via Product Name Login via User/Pass View Product View Similar Products Search Product Login View List of Max. 10 Results View Product Image Search via Full-Text Search Login via OAuth Add to Basket Pay Add to Basket PayPal 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 37 User Story Mapping 4. Slice Out Releases 8. Using horizontal lines, slice the map into a sequence of incremental product releases. Product Release Roadmap View Product Description Search via Product Name Login via User/Pass View Product Image RELEASE 1 Goal View Product View Similar Products Search Product Login Add to Basket Pay 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 38 User Story Mapping 4. Slice Out Releases Tips ‣ Each release should mark a minimum viable product that spans your product‘s users. ‣ State how each release contributes to your user‘s goals and how to measure its success. 

MARTIN ETMAJER Founder | GetCloudnative e.U. Slide 39 User Story Mapping is An Art, Not Science „A story map is not a precise model of a user‘s workflow. It‘s a tool that helps us work together to tell users‘ stories.“ Jeff Patton 

What Else is There? 

The Standard Reference User Story Mapping The Standard Reference „Discover the whole story, build the right product.“ 

The New User Story Backlog is a Map Author: Jeff Patton 

Story Map Concepts Author: Jeff Patton 

How to Create a User Story Map Author: Steve Rogalsky 

User Story Mapping in Practice Author: Steve Rogalsky