User Story Mapping

User Story Mapping is Jeff Patton's technique for organizing user stories into a visual map that shows the complete user experience and helps slice work into releases.

When to Use This Skill

Keywords: story map, user story map, backbone, walking skeleton, MVP, release planning, user journey, story slicing, Jeff Patton, Agile discovery

Use this skill when:

• Organizing elicited requirements into deliverable increments
• Defining MVP scope from a large set of requirements
• Visualizing the user journey across features
• Planning releases with clear user value
• Slicing large epics into shippable stories
• Communicating product vision to stakeholders

Core Concepts

The Map Structure

TIME / USER JOURNEY →
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
BACKBONE (Activities)   │  Search   │  Browse   │  Purchase  │  Track
                        │           │           │            │
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
WALKING SKELETON        │  Basic    │  List     │  Cart +    │  Order
(Minimum Path)          │  Search   │  View     │  Checkout  │  Status
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Release 1               │  Filters  │  Details  │  Payment   │  Email
                        │           │  Page     │  Options   │  Notify
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Release 2               │  Saved    │  Compare  │  Wishlist  │  Tracking
                        │  Searches │  Items    │            │  Map
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Release 3 (Nice-to-have)│  AI       │  AR       │  One-Click │  Delivery
                        │  Suggest  │  Preview  │  Buy       │  Photos

Key Elements

Creating a Story Map

Step 1: Define the Backbone

Identify high-level activities the user performs:

backbone_questions:
  - "What does the user do first?"
  - "What happens next in their journey?"
  - "What are all the major activities?"
  - "Is there a natural sequence or flow?"

Step 2: Identify the Walking Skeleton

For each backbone activity, what's the minimum viable implementation?

walking_skeleton_criteria:
  - Enables the user to complete the activity (barely)
  - End-to-end slice through the system
  - Testable and demonstrable
  - Foundation for incremental enhancement

Step 3: Fill in User Tasks

Under each activity, list user tasks/stories:

task_placement:
  vertical_order: "Priority (most important at top)"
  horizontal_alignment: "Which activity does this belong to?"
  dependencies: "Does this need something from another column?"

Step 4: Draw Release Slices

Group stories into releases with clear user value:

release_criteria:
  release_1_mvp:
    - Walking skeleton + minimal enhancements
    - "What can we build and ship first?"
    - Validates core value proposition

  release_2:
    - Improves on MVP based on feedback
    - Adds important but not critical features

  future_releases:
    - Nice-to-have features
    - Competitive differentiation
    - Edge cases and polish

Output Formats

Mermaid Diagram (Default)

The /story-map command generates Mermaid flowcharts:

%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': { 'primaryColor': '#e1f5fe'}}}%%
flowchart LR
    subgraph Backbone["User Journey (Backbone)"]
        A1[Search] --> A2[Browse] --> A3[Purchase] --> A4[Track]
    end

    subgraph R0["Walking Skeleton"]
        A1 --- S1[Basic Search]
        A2 --- S2[List View]
        A3 --- S3[Cart + Checkout]
        A4 --- S4[Order Status]
    end

    subgraph R1["Release 1"]
        S1 --- R1S1[Filters]
        S2 --- R1S2[Details Page]
        S3 --- R1S3[Payment Options]
        S4 --- R1S4[Email Notify]
    end

YAML Export

story_map:
  title: "E-commerce Platform"
  personas: ["shopper", "power-user"]

  backbone:
    - id: search
      name: "Search Products"
      walking_skeleton: "Basic keyword search"

    - id: browse
      name: "Browse Catalog"
      walking_skeleton: "List view with thumbnails"

  releases:
    - name: "MVP"
      stories:
        - activity: search
          stories: ["Basic Search", "Filters"]
        - activity: browse
          stories: ["List View", "Details Page"]

Integration with Elicitation

From Elicited Requirements

1. Load synthesized requirements from /discover
2. Identify user activities from functional requirements
3. Map requirements to backbone activities
4. Prioritize within each activity
5. Slice into releases

Workflow

# Elicit requirements first
/requirements-elicitation:discover "e-commerce platform"

# Create story map from requirements
/requirements-elicitation:story-map --domain "e-commerce"

# Export map to visualization
/requirements-elicitation:story-map --domain "e-commerce" --format mermaid

Best Practices

DO

• Include stakeholders in mapping sessions
• Keep backbone at 5-10 activities
• Make walking skeleton truly minimal
• Slice releases for user value, not technical convenience
• Revisit and update as you learn

DON'T

• Over-detail the map initially
• Organize by technical layer (UI, API, DB)
• Skip the walking skeleton (it's the foundation)
• Make releases too large
• Treat the map as immutable

Related Commands

• /story-map - Generate story maps from elicited requirements
• /journey-map - Customer journey visualization (complementary)
• /discover - Elicit requirements before mapping
• /gaps - Check for missing coverage

References

For detailed guidance:

• Mapping Techniques - Detailed mapping workflows
• Release Planning - Slicing strategies and MVP definition

External:

• Jeff Patton's "User Story Mapping" book
• jpattonassociates.com

Version History

• v1.0.0 (2025-12-26): Initial release - User Story Mapping skill

Last Updated: 2025-12-26