How to Create Great User Stories For Your Mobile App

1. HowtoCreateGreat User Stories For YourMobileApp

2. SAMARITAN INFOTECH One of the most challenging parts of making an app is creating a finalproductthattrulyrepresentstheinitialvision.Thisisespecially true for complex project requirements, where you need to translate ideasintotangiblefunctionality. Userstoriessimplifythisprocess. Whether you’re a developer, entrepreneur, business owner, or app development agency, understanding the power of user stories will ultimatelyhelpyoudeliverbettersoftware. This in-depth guide will explain everything you need to know about user stories, including how they work, why they’re important, user storyexamples,andhowtowriteuserstoriesformobileapps. Whatis aUserStory? Auserstory describeswhatanapp user wantstodowithina softwaresystem to achievesomething valuable.Userstories are short,plainlanguagedescriptionsofagoalfromtheend-user perspective. User stories do not describe a specific software feature or business objective.

3. SAMARITAN INFOTECH A good user story is short, and clearly articulates who the user is, whattheywanttodo,andwhytheywanttoaccomplishsomething. User stories don’t need to be very descriptive. You can write a user story using informal language in a single sentence. Just include the followingpattern: Role—“Asa[userpersona]” Feature—“Iwantto[completeanaction]” Benefit—“SothatIcan[getsomevalue]” Whenyouputthisuserstorytemplatetogether,youmightget somethinglikethis: As a project manager, I want to stay organized, so I can keep my entireteamontrack. Thiscouldeasily beanexampleofauserstory forproject managementsoftware. There are lots of different ways to showcase user stories—and they don’t have to be packaged as some type of formal final project. You can even write user stories on post-it notes, index cards, or share themdigitallywithyourprojectteam.

4. SAMARITAN INFOTECH WhyAreUserStoriesSoImportantForaSoftware DevelopmentTeam? Userstorieshavebecomecrucialforagilesoftwaredevelopment. Beforeagileuserstorieswereimplemented,teamswouldspend weeks writing highly detailed requirements and specifications for a given software project. But there’s a disconnect here in the language used by programmers and developers compared to the language used by the general public. So there would often be confusion among stakeholdersinvolvedwiththeproject. Without an agile user story, the specifications would look something likethis: Theappshoulddo[this] Theappwilldo[that] Thefeaturewillcomplete[somethingelse] But this type of direction is not helpful. You end up with long paragraphs of style details that many people working on the project won’t read or understand. Even the developers would skip over these, astheywould instead lookto start writing codeassoonas possible. Userstorieschangedeverything.

5. SAMARITAN INFOTECH Someofthetopbenefitsofuserstoriesinclude: Focusing on the user —Using a checklist or to-do list will keep a project team task-oriented. But by following user stories, it keeps everyoneconcentratedon solving problemsfortheappusers. Promotingcollaboration—Userstorieshelpdefineyour end goals.Thismakesitmucheasierforteamstocollaboratively decide the best route to take, ensuring that the end user’s needs willbebestserved. Drivingcreativity—Insteadofusinguninspiringtasksor objectives to define the project, user stories encourage everyone to let their creative juices flow. This inspires critical thinking and problemsolvingbasedonuserneeds. Building momentum —Each time a new user story gets achieved, the team feels a sense of accomplishment. These small wins help buildmomentumthroughout theentireproject, sothefinal productdoesn’t feel likeaninsurmountablemountaintoclimb. Whileuserstoriescan beused foranytypeofproductorproject managementinitiative,theyworkgreatforapplicationdevelopment.

6. SAMARITAN INFOTECH Key ElementsofaGreatUserStory The key components of a great user story can best be described by the acronym INVEST. This acronym was first coined by Bill Wake, an expert in the field of extreme programming and agile project development. INVESThas become the gold standard for defining success with userstorieseversince.Let’stakeacloserlookateachpartbelow: Independent Every user story must be treated as a single component within the wholeproject. This means that teams should be able to work on each story in any order, without any type of co-dependency from one user story to another. There should not be any overlap between stories, as this addsredundancyandconfusion. If any user stories are dependent on each other, it usually means thatonecanbeomitted—whicheverislessvaluable.

7. SAMARITAN INFOTECH Negotiable Creatingauserstoryreliesoncollaboration between clients, designers,programmers,andstakeholders.Itstartswitha conversation. Inaperfectworld,everyonewillbeonthesamepagewiththestory —although that’s rarely the case. Stories should be written in a way so that the priority, project requirements, and scope can easily be changed.Thisalignswithotherprinciplesofagileproject management. Valuable Valueisarguablythemostimportantelementofauserstory. If the story isn’t adding value to the end-user, eliminate it. Mobile appsmust be designedtoaddvalue,andevery storymust be writtenkeepingthisconcepttopofmind. Estimable Priorityisanotherimportantaspectofuserstories.

8. SAMARITAN INFOTECH Each story should be sized appropriately in a way that defines its priority level. High-value features with a long development process mightnotalwaysgetthehighestlevelofpriorityinthe development timeline. In some cases, it’s better to knock out quick winsandcompleteotherstoriesfirst. Small Theexactsizeofthetaskorstory dependson theproject managementmethodyou’reusing.Sometimesastorycanbe completedinasinglesprint.Othertimestheycouldtakelonger. For agile methodologies, stories shouldn’t take more than three or fourdaysofwork. Testable When a story is complete, it should be tested for the product. This ensures that every user story fulfills its acceptance criteria, which variesbytheproject.

9. SAMARITAN INFOTECH HowtoWrite UserStories ForYour MobileApp Now that you understand what’s required of a good user story, it’s time to start creating user stories for your app. Follow the simple stepsbelowtogetstarted. IdentifyDifferentUserPersonas The first step of writing user stories is defining the types of users whowilluseyourmobileapplication.Thisisdifferentfrom identifyingthetargetaudience. Auserpersonadescribeswhatthepersondoeswhenthey’re connected to the app. It’s even possible that a single user could havemultipleassociationswhenusingtheproduct. For example, let’s look at an app that everyone is familiar with— YouTube. SomeonemightuseYouTubeforeducationalpurposesandlearning new skills. But that same exact person could also use the app for entertainment. The user story for each of these scenarios would havedifferentpersonas.

10. SAMARITAN INFOTECH EstablishGoals For DifferentUserTypes Now you should have a list of different user personas. For each persona, you need to define the goals for the end-user in your user stories.Thinkaboutwhythey’reusingthemobileapplication. Whatgoalwilltheygainbyinteractingwiththeapp? Let’sstickwiththeYouTubeuserstoryexample. The educational user’s goal might be finding the most informative video on a particular subject. Where an entertainment user’s goal might be discovering a closely related video recommendation upon completionofanother. Thiswilllaythegroundworkforyoursoftwarefeatures. Definethe“What”and“Why” You’ve already answered the “who” of your user stories. Now it’s timetoanswerthe“what”and“why”withuserstorymapping.

11. SAMARITAN INFOTECH DefinetheAcceptanceCriteria We brieflytalked abouttheacceptancecriteriaearlierinthe “testable”partoftheINVESTacronymforuserstorykeyelements. Whatexactlyistheacceptancecriteria? Think of your user stories like any other story—it must be logical to make sense. Look back at the what and why, and answer it with “how.” Theacceptancecriteriaexplainsexactlyhowyou’regoingtodeliver valuetotheother.You’llanswerthiswithoutgettingintothe intricaciesofapplication development(thiscomeslater inthe process). But you’re going to use your imagination to play out how thestoryunfolds. For example, you might say that a user could press a button to automatically share a location with their friends. Or maybe they need to perform a specific gesture to confirm their order before finalizingthecheckoutprocess.

12. SAMARITAN INFOTECH UserStoryExamples Let’s take a closer look at some examples of user stories that you canuseasatemplateorinspiration: Asamobilecommercecustomer, I wantashoppingcartbutton, soIcaneasilystoreitemsthatI’minterestedinpurchasing. Asadrycleaning customer,Iwanttoreceiveapush notification when my order is done, so I can pick it up right away. As a student, I want to invite my classmates to download the app,sowecanworktogetheronaproject. As a manager, I want an option for anonymous feedback, so my employeesfeelcomfortablesharinginformationwithme. AsanHRrep,Iwanttogenerateareportonemployeefeedback, so I can understand which departments need better training materials. As a basketball player, I want a court reservation feature, so I canbookaprivatetimetopracticeatthegym. By using a natural language description, like the examples above, a userstory helpseveryoneunderstandthegoal ofaparticular initiativewithintheapp.

13. SAMARITAN INFOTECH ProTipsandBestPracticesforWritingUserStories Before we finish up, I want to leave you with some proven tips for success when you’re writing user stories. Keep these in mind as you’regoingthroughthestepsdescribedearlierinthisguide: Alwayswritetheuserstoryfromtheuser’sperspective. Keepthedescriptionsimple.Youcanalwaysaddsmalleruser storieslaterforcontext. Stayorganizedwithauserstorymapsoyoucanseethebig pictureofyourbacklog. Createuserstoriesbeforeyoustartworryingaboutproduct features. Use the stories as inspiration for your mobile app features. Encouragecreativityandcollaborativebrainstormingfrom yourdevelopmentteams. Confirmtheneedforafeaturebeforedevelopmentbegins. Use the user stories to estimate tasks to ensure your development teammemberscanhandletheworkload.

14. SAMARITAN INFOTECH If you’re stuck, you can start with “epics.” These are larger user storiesthatcaneventuallybebrokendownintosmallerstories. Keep everything simple, concise, and in terms that everyone canunderstand. Continuetorefinethestoriesuntilthey’reready. Keep your stories in a place where they’re easily accessible and visibletoeveryteammember. Don’trelyonuserstoriesalonetocreateanapp.

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