User Story Writing

Purpose

Create well-structured user stories that clearly communicate user needs, business value, and acceptance criteria in a format teams can understand and implement.

When to Use

• Defining new features from user perspective
• Breaking down large features into implementable pieces
• Communicating requirements to development teams
• Planning sprints and iterations

Key Capabilities

1. Story Structure - Write clear "As a/I want/So that" format
2. Acceptance Criteria - Define testable validation requirements
3. Value Focus - Emphasize user benefits and business value

Approach

1. Identify the user role or persona
2. Define what they want to accomplish
3. Explain why it provides value
4. Write 3-5 clear acceptance criteria
5. Estimate complexity (story points or T-shirt sizes)

Example

Context: User needs to export data

**User Story**: As a data analyst, I want to export reports to CSV format, so that I can analyze data in Excel.

**Acceptance Criteria**:
- [ ] Export button available on report page
- [ ] CSV file includes all visible columns
- [ ] File download starts immediately on click
- [ ] Filename includes report name and timestamp
- [ ] Export handles reports with 10,000+ rows

**Complexity**: Medium (3 points)

Best Practices

• ✅ Keep stories small and focused (deliverable in 1-3 days)
• ✅ Write from user perspective, not system perspective
• ✅ Make acceptance criteria specific and testable
• ❌ Avoid: Technical implementation details in stories