FEATURES AND

USER STORIES
David R. Miller
PDM7, Instructor
FEATURES AND USER STORIES

I V E
CO NCE L A N
P O P
EV E L TE
D TI ER A
U N C H
L A AT E
Y S T I N
A D TA
STE I N
MA R KILL
O
FEATURES AND USER STORIES

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
‣ Createuser stories or job stories to communicate needs between
the team.
‣ Learn to translate user needs into product features
‣ Learn how to effectively prioritize features.
FEATURES AND USER STORIES

USER STORIES
USER STORIES

USER STORIES
As a
‣ A way to capture User Needs.
‣ Shared with the development {type of user},
team and stakeholders.
‣ Cards can be broken up into
I want to
smaller user stories for large
features.
{goal/functionality}
so that I can
{reason}.
USER STORIES

As a heavy users of
As a business user, email folders, I
I want to enter the want to search
email addresses of through my emails
my colleagues quickly by subject
quickly so I send and recipients so I
them messages can find hidden
faster. messages.
USER STORIES

ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA
What does the product need to If I search for a specific
do to mark this user story as name of the person, all
complete? their emails show up. If I
search for subjects, all
the emails with similar
names show up. If I
search for something that
returns null, it displays
“No messages found.”
USER STORIES

AGILE - CONSTRUCT
‣ Epic: Very large user story
‣ Theme: Similar user stories
‣ User Story: Well defined
story that can completed in
(1) sprint
FEATURES AND USER STORIES

KEY OBJECTIVE(S)
Understand how user stories get translated to features.

TIMING
In groups, think about an app that would allow
5 min
EXERCISE you to order alcohol to your home (wine, beer, liquor).

15 min Identify the user needs for the app and write out user
stories for them.
10 min Brainstorm what features you would build for each user
story.
DELIVERABLE
User stories + feature ideas for each story to solve the
user need.
FEATURES AND USER STORIES

JOBS TO BE DONE
(JTBD)
JOBS-TO-BE-D0NE

MILKSHAKE MARKETING
‣ Clayton Christensen
‣ Anthony Ulwick
‣ Theodore Levitt
JOBS-TO-BE-D0NE

PEOPLE ENCOUNTER SITUATIONS

THAT DRIVE THE NEED FOR A JOB.
THEY HIRE A PRODUCT OR SERVICE
TO GET THE JOB DONE.
JOBS-TO-BE-D0NE

JOB STORY

Sourced: Alan Klement

JOBS-TO-BE-D0NE

JTBD
When
‣ Situation: Context rich
explanation of the problem {situation of user},
‣ Motivation: Forces that push
or pull the customer to or from I want to
product or feature. (i.e.
anxiety, causality) {motivation}
Expected outcome: Solution
‣
to one or more situations. so that I can
{expected outcome}.
JOBS-TO-BE-D0NE

MAYDAY FEATURE BY AMAZON

Situation:
When I’m using my tablet and encounter a problem….
Motivation:
When I’m using my I want to get help right away…
tablet and encounter a Force: I’m irritated because I was in the middle of something…
Force: I’m nervous I won’t finish what I was just doing…
problem, I want to get Force: I get nervous asking for help…
help right away so I can Force: Asking for help might make me look stupid…
finish what I started. Force: I’m shy about showing what I’m working on to someone
else…
Expected Outcome:
So I can finish what I started.

Example Sourced: Alan Klement

FEATURES AND USER STORIES

TRANSLATING NEEDS
TRANSLATING NEEDS

HOW DO WE DETERMINE
PRODUCT FEATURES?
TRANSLATING NEEDS

START WITH A USER’S

WANTS AND NEEDS
TO COMPLETE A GOAL.
TRANSLATING NEEDS

AN EMAIL SYSTEM
‣ What actions would I want
to accomplish when
sending and receiving
emails?
‣ What are some things I
would need or want to
make emailing both useful
and enjoyable?
TRANSLATING NEEDS

TRANSLATE USER’S NEEDS INTO FEATURES

“I need a way to tell the
system who I want to
send the email to.”

“I need a way to create

a new email message.”
TRANSLATING NEEDS

PRODUCTS ARE MADE UP OF LITTLE FEATURES.

TRANSLATING NEEDS

PRODUCTS ARE MADE UP OF LITTLE FEATURES.

FEATURES AND USER STORIES

PRIORITIZATION
PRIORITIZATION

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO
PRIORITIZE STORIES?
PRIORITIZATION

HOW DO WE PRIORITIZE
Priority 1
‣ Weigh development effort with
customer value
‣ You want to maximize customer
value on the delivered product
‣ Post your user stories with the Priority 2
highest priority at the top
‣ Consider dependencies on future
user stories
Priority 3
PRIORITIZATION

*AS A CLASS PRIORITIZE USER STORIES FOR AN

EXAMPLE YOU HAVE*
FEATURES AND USER STORIES

KEY OBJECTIVE(S)
Understand prioritization of user stories and features.

TIMING
10 min In the same groups as before, discuss the priority of each
EXERCISE user story in terms of customer value.

5 min Line up your user stories on the board with the highest
priority on the top.

DELIVERABLE

User stories in a list with highest priority on top.

INSERT CLASS TITLE

HOMEWORK
FEATURES AND USER STORIES

CREATE USER STORIES OR JOB STORIES FOR YOUR PRODUCT

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE

Q&A
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE

EXIT TICKETS
HTTP://GA.CO/PDMTICKET
1. What do user stories communicate?
1. A user’s last actions.
2. A user’s wants and needs. - Answer
3. A user’s emotions.

2. Why is it important to prioritize features?

1. Developers only have limited time to build.
2. You want to ensure that customers get the most value.
3. Both A & B - Answer

3. What is the structure of a user story?

1. As a <user> I want to <goal> so that I can <reasons>. - Answer
2. As a <stakeholder> I want to <goal> so that I can <reasons>.
3. As a <user> I usually do <actions>.