The Agile Pocket Guide: A Quick Start to Making Your Business Agile Using Scrum and Beyond

Chapter 11

User Stories and Estimation

Each and every Tribe and business pass down stories from generation to generation. These stories tell of past projects and teachings that the Tribe has learned and grown from. The best of these stories are the ones rich with content, detailed in their specifics and complete in their telling.

Each endeavor for the Tribe is a conglomeration of stories; the more depth these stories have, the easier they are to know, understand, and apply to the project. In total, the stories need to be analyzed and understood by the Agile Team. What comes out of user story writing is the desired functionality of each unit of work for the project. These user stories are often written on index cards or sticky notes. During backlog grooming or sprint planning, the team members will assign themselves stories and commit to the work. Their signature on each user story commits them to the completion of the work. (See Figure 11.1.)

Figure 11.1 Team Members Assigning Stories and Committing to Work

Each user story created around a particular feature or functionality always follows the laws of the land in user story creation. (See Figure 11.2.)

• As a <user> I want to <function> so that I can <business value>.
• Acceptance Criteria (AC): <Steps necessary for this story to succeed or be completed>.
• Notes: <Any additional information pertinent for the developer>.
• Priority: <If ...