What is a User Story and How to Create One

User feedback is often incorporated into the development process when using the Agile methodology. To make sure they are headed in the correct direction and that the final product will meet the needs of the client, agile teams appreciate this outside viewpoint.  Customer satisfaction is given the utmost importance according to the Agile Manifesto.

User stories must be a part of your agenda items when constructing sprint planning sessions. Your sprint goal should include user stories for that sprint, and you should divide your user stories into separate tasks.

Here's a closer look at user stories in more detail, including their definition and how to create one. 

What is a User Story?

A user story is a brief, casual, plain-language explanation, of what a user wants to accomplish with a software product to obtain something beneficial.  A user story is not the place for jargon. In order to give the user a clear understanding of what they need, it is written in an easily readable style. The user story explains the kind of user, their expectations, and their motivations.

• ‍Who has a desire?  This is often a job title, customer, or user type, also known as the user persona.‍
• What desires do they have?  This is the user's preferred outcome or implementation of the product.‍
• Why they desire it?  This is why the user requires the feature or functionality.

What to Include in a User Story?

Developers can add additional information to a user story by dividing it down into smaller user stories and categorizing them. 

In some circumstances, developers provide each user story with a unique identification as well as an effort/priority level. Usually, developers use the unique identifier to keep track of how many user stories exist and when they are completed.

To begin writing user stories, you can apply a simple approach. This makes it easier for you to understand why a new feature is important to your target audience.  

1. User Story

‍An agile user story follows this basic format:

"As a/an (persona), I want to (action or task to perform), so that I can (goal/s achieved)." 

Example Statements:

• “As a restaurant manager, I want to organize order tickets, so there no skipping over in serving tables.”
• “As a teacher, I want to organize students' records, so I can accomplish my paperwork much quicker.”
• “As a homemaker, I want to list my earnings and expenses, so I can track my savings easily”

2. Priority

‍Indicate the level of priority of taking action for your sprints.

3. Estimate

‍Indicates the length of time, number of developers required, or number of requirements for the project.

4. Acceptance Criteria

‍Acceptance criteria specify what the feature must accomplish to meet the user's goal.  They are the counterpart of any user story.  This makes it easier for developers to plan what to create and when a new feature is available.  A user story can be deemed complete when acceptance requirements are satisfied.  To go along with your user story template, below is a basic acceptance criteria template.

“Given that [some background], when [a certain action is taken], then [A set of noticeable results should happen].”

Let's follow through with our example hypothetical restaurant manager from our user story above

Example Statement:

“Given the the restaurant manager wants to have an organized table order tickets for the staff when they input and check orders on their service system, then they can serve food and bill customer tables more accurately and efficiently.”

Now that you have gathered information for your user stories, you may then create a simple user story template. You may use the sample template below as your guide:

Writing user stories and acceptance criteria can be mastered with the help of these primary methods in creating your own template.