Why Do Your User Stories Suck?
The Secret to Writing User Stories That Actually Work
Why aren't your user stories working? If you're familiar with the fundamentals of Product Management, you've surely encountered user stories. An effective story captures the user's real needs and allows your team to deliver value quickly. You may also know several methods for writing “good stories” such as Gherkin, INVEST Criteria, and the Who, What, Why Method, but I won’t go into that here.
Beyond using a framework to write stories, you need to understand why that story needs to be written. I can’t say exactly how many user stories I’ve written in my career, but — certainly — more than 1,000. And let me tell you something: Writing good user stories can save your team months of work. Yes — I said “months” Consider all the time spent writing, explaining, reading, and understanding each story, multiplied by everyone involved. And think of all the time spent developing a feature nobody needs. For your sake and your team’s, you need to master the art of writing good user stories.
If your user stories fail, it's likely due to one of these three common mistakes: lack of clarity, ambiguity, or not being user-centered.
How to Write Better User Stories
Deeply understand your users: Before writing any story, make sure you truly know them and what they need.
Prioritize achievable stories: Start with an overall vision and break it down into smaller stories. Each story should be feasible within a single sprint. Large stories (or epics) are hard to implement.
Write simple and concise stories: Keep it straightforward: As a [user], I want [action] so that [benefit].
Add clear acceptance criteria: Clarify when a story is complete to avoid ambiguity.
Involve the Lead when necessary: Some stories you can write on your own; for others, you’ll need the Front-End, Back-End, or Design Lead to write and refine the story.
In conclusion, effective stories are clear, feasible, and user-centered. They save time, eliminate misunderstandings, and enable faster, more efficient delivery.