So, what is a User Story? In the field of software application development, a User Story is a brief description of a feature of an application told from the perspective of an End User (typically). The language is plain, and avoids the extremely formal verbiage used in a typical Requirements document (e.g. “The system shall do X, Y, & Z”). The format and structure of a User Story is also fairly simple:
As a [End User]
I want to be able to [Insert a description of the application functionality]
So that [Insert a description of the business value realized]
Acceptance Criteria:
List acceptance criteria #1
List acceptance criteria #2
List acceptance criteria #3
As you can see, the overall structure of a User Story is relatively simple. However, things can get very complex quickly based upon the type of functionality you are attempting to describe. The most important thing isn’t actually the User Story…it’s the Acceptance Criteria associated with the User Story that is most critical. If we do not define the Acceptance Criteria, we can never know whether if the User Story is complete.
Think of it as a funnel, at the top is your User Story…it’s your high level goal. As we move through the funnel, we are testing against each piece of Acceptance Criteria. Only when each Acceptance Criteria has been fully tested and passed, can we consider that User Story to be complete. If you’re a Product Owner, or a Business Analyst working under a PO, you probably already know that writing the detailed AC is where you will be spending most of your time.
In terms of Requirements gathering, are User Stories enough for large scale application builds? No. User Stories and Acceptance Criteria are typically a starting point when it comes to analysis. Developing the AS IS and TO BE process models, writing the Business/Data Dictionaries, and defining the Use Cases are just an example of things that still need to be done on the majority of projects. These artifacts are critical for a DEV team member to be able to do their job…swapping out a BRD for User Stories does not change that fact. So having that BA skillset is still required, now more than ever.