A free to use knowledge base to help you write better user stories
User stories provide a way to simply and plainly describe user action and intent when interacting with a system (typically a user interface). In considering both the steps a user takes, and their motivations, in a narrative form we aim to empathize with our users while delivering a product or service.
To get started, we'll dig into the components of a strong user story, before providing you with a range of example user story backlogs to draw from.
To create a user story, fill in the blanks:
- As an
actor, I want tointeract with something, so that I canachieve some objective
Or more precisely:
- As a
actorI want toaction object(s)so that I canaction intent(s)
Let's flesh that out a bit more:
The actor is the first person subject of the story, and may be defined by their role in a system or their persona e.g.:
- A visitor
- A prospect
- A customer
- Susan
As inferred above, an actor may transition their role as the navigate a system, end to end (e.g., from visitor, to prospect, to customer).
An interaction is an action we engage with an object, i.e., an external interaction with a system.
An action is a verb describing a clear interaction with an external object (or objects) e.g.:
- View
- Select
- Add
- Check-out
An object is any thing (or collection of things) we might interact with e.g.:
- Shirts
- A Shirt
- A shopping cart
An object can also include object properties e.g., shirt colour, shirt size, etc.
If we put action and object together:
- I want to view shirts
- I want to select a shirt colour
- I want to select a shirt size
- I want to add a shirt to cart
- I want to check-out my cart
An objective is the intent of the interaction i.e., the why. An objective is also action oriented however, it describes action towards internal goals, rather than external interaction.
In this regard our objective action should use goal oriented verbs, e.g.,:
- Explore
- Continue
- Achieve
- Complete
Our intent of the story, similarly, should be goal oriented and help the story to express the internal motivation of our actor i.e., the object of their desire e.g.:
- My preferences
- My options
- A new shirt
As you can see by the last example in the list, the object of their desire might be the same object of the interaction. This is ok; just remember that our aim is to empathize with a user so always consider, why?
Let's put that together into some objective examples:
- so that I can explore my options
- so that I can match my preferences
- so that I can look great
Ok, Let's put that all together. Here are some examples:
- As a visitor, I want to view a selection of shirts, so that I can explore my options
- As a prospective customer, I want to select a shirt colour, so that I can match my preference
- As a customer, I want to purchase a new shirt, so that I can look great for my job interview
On this site you'll find many more examples of user stories, just like this, that will walk through many different possible applied cases for user stories.
You can also elaborate on your user stories (using the recommended Gherkin syntax) to establish a detailed step by step description of each interaction, while maintaining our first persona narrative.
We call this acceptance criteria, as it provides a criteria for testing that a story is actionable by a user (hence accepted, or complete).
Gherkin is a syntax for writing specifications in a narrative way. Based on the concept of behaviour-driven development (BDD), Gherkin, follows a formula, with standard keywords for describing interactions, e.g.,
Givene.g., given some pre-condition i.e., used to introduce the pre-textWhene.g., when an action is taken i.e., used to describe an action or process stepThene.g., then something occurs i.e., describes the effect of the action or step
These steps can also be chained together or modified using:
And, e.g., And when, and then, and thenBut, e.g., But when this action, then this occurs
Gherkin also employs indentation, and special keywords to help organize interactions e.g.:
Feature: Add a shirt to cart
Scenario: Select a shirt
Given...
When...
Then...
Scenario: etc.
As a standard Gherkins can be really powerful in helping to expand on your stories, and narrow your specifications. Thats not to mention, that it can be used as the basis for end-to-end testing.
Let's put that all together with a user story example from above:
As a visitor, I want to view a selection of shirts, so that I can explore available options
Feature: View a selection of shirts
Scenario: Visit the store
Given I am in the neighbourshood
When I visit the store
Then I find a selection of shirts
Scenario: explore the shirts by property
When I view a selection of shirts
Then I find shirts organized by colour
And I find shirts organized by size
As should be be clear in our examples, when designing a system (e.g., a product or service) we can create an ordered set of user stories to conceptualize an end-to-end user experience.
This is often described as a backlog.
A good high level way to conceptualize your product backlog (even before writing stories) is to list, in order, all the interactions a user will take in a system.
Here's an example
- Search for shirts
- Find a selection of shirts
- Browse by shirt category
- Select a shirt
- View shirt details
- Select shirt colour
- Add shirt to cart
- Check-out my shirt
- Receive my shirt
This works to provide a prompt to write a set of user stories, but also serves as an index of actions to model our product.
While your backlog will likely live in your project management software, maintaining your user stories and acceptance criteria for the long term serves as essential documentation for your product.
In this regard we recommend establishing your backlog in Markdown first.
Here is a template
# Product Name
A short yet terse description of your product.
## User stories
1. Find user story examples
2. Get started writing stories
### 1. Find user examples
As a product manager, I want to get started writing user stories, so that I can maintain more user centric specifications
`
Feature: Get started writing user stories
Scenario: Read how to get started
Given I have found User Story Examples
When I view the home page
Then I find 'Getting Started'
`
Here you'll find more example backlogs organized by user experience, and crafted as demonstrated in the Getting Started section.
These will cover a range of typical use cases, e.g.:
- Hailing a rideshare
- Ordering delivery
- Booking travel accommodation
- Purchasing an investment
We'll also provide additional resources to help you write your own user stories, acceptance criteria and how to organize your backlog or prioritize towards an MVP.
Let us know if you find it helpful, or if you have any request or recommendations.