the problem

  • the backlog difficult to prioritize
    • because it’s a list
    • difficult to identify dependencies
      • it quickly becomes a network
    • already at this point the tasks need detailed understanding
  • the backlog is one dimensional
    • which is priority

user story mapping

  • popularized by Jeff Patton
  • performed in workshops including
    • users,
    • (UI) designers,
    • developers,
    • testers,
    • and other stakeholders
  • build a shared understanding of the product and a common language

other benefits of USM

  • helps to understand and prioritise what the user needs
  • it can discussed with the customer / users → feedback
  • highlights assumptions and risks that might be missed by a single viewpoint
  • uncovering dependencies earlier and faster with multiple viewpoints

user story map

  • two dimensional
  • uses the user’s perspective to tell a story / narrative
  • the user want to achieve a goal
  • which consists of one or many activities

user story map

  • two dimensional
  • consists of three elements
    1. activities
    2. steps
    3. details

activity

  • is sort of a big thing that people do
  • that can have multiple steps,
  • and doesn’t always have a precise workflow

activities are still user stories with roles

As a social media platform user
I want to follow users
so I can keep up with their posts.

An activity is close to an epic in the scrum literature.

user task

  • in agile a “task” refers to the things that developers do
    • to finish user stories
  • user story mapping considers the user,
    • so a user task is what a user needs to do to complete an activity

for example (follow a user)

  1. search for a user
  2. add user to the followed list

from “Quickstart Guide to User Story Mapping” by Eben Halford | CC BY-SA 2.5

reading: Quickstart Guide to User Story Mapping

user story map as a document

  • not final, not set in stone
  • it is possible and encouraged to adjust
    as the more knowledge is acquired about the software
    • versioning
  • you are free to move notes up and down
    • change the role (activity ↔ user task)

backbone, skeleton, ribs

top-down structure, high-level overview first, then adding details

iterations

note that

  • there can be several different types of user
  • each one could have a different reason for their activities

story mapping steps

  1. set the context, decide on the goal
    • who is the user we are mapping for?
    • what are they trying to achieve with their activity and why?
    • what is the outcome they seek and how will we help them to achieve it?
  2. tell a story
    • go wide not deep, details come later
    • focus on the narrative flow
  3. create the backbone of steps
  4. define user tasks for each step

based on the Quickstart Guide to User Story Mapping

story mapping steps

  1. set the context, decide on the goal
  2. tell a story
  3. create the backbone of steps
    • activities as a collection of things you do to get the goal done
    • things that get your activity done are steps
    • start your steps with a verb, an action
    • the order of steps may differ by users, think of an ideal sequence
    • discuss different use cases as they come up
  4. define user tasks for each step
    • they can include sub-tasks, alternative tasks, exceptions, details and even UX notes
    • if a step has many tasks, is may worth to split into separate steps

based on the Quickstart Guide to User Story Mapping

social media platform example – sign-up

sign-up feature from a minimal social media platform

social media platform example – user management

user management features from a social media platform v2

social media platform example – create content

create content feature from a social media platform v2

social media platform - example

user story mapping mistakes

getting bogged down in the details

more from Jeff Patton: 5 story mapping mistakes