As my last post was about how to write good User Stories, this post is about good structures for them. When developing products that require several team and stakeholders to collaborate, it is beneficial to have a common User Story structure so that everyone can focus on the product instead of struggling with information and requirements about it. With all the points below please remember that a User Story should be a place holder for conversations. So avoid adding all details and take away room for negotiation and conversation.

As a Product Owner I would like to know how to write good User Stories So that I can provide ideal input to teams for turning requirements into a product increment. What is an User Story? An User Story is a brief description of a certain functionality or desired feature from a user’s perspective. In an User Story these pieces of functionality or features must relate to business value. As mentioned User Stories are very brief descriptions and with that become a place holder for conversations between business people and developers When this conversations take place, knowledge is spread across all involved people and a shared understanding is the result. User Stories focus on value to be delivered to an user. …

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Most people involved in Agile Software Development are familiar with User Stories which, in it’s slimmest form, consist of a narrative and a small set of acceptance criteria. But what about Epics? What exactly is an epic and how does it distinguish from a user story, theme, initiate, spike or task? Let’s have a look what the purpose of an epic is and what it usually looks like in Agile Software Development.

Everyone who designs and manages products is familiar with the situation in which different ideas, requirements, market demands and legal regulations just pile up. You end up with a big stack of wishes and requirement and need to refine and prioritize them for implementation. Therefore a well maintained product backlog is highly beneficial and supports you in creating a good product. Here are practices that have proven useful to me over the years.