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User Stories

User Stories: {{PROJECT_NAME}}

Project: {{PROJECT_NAME}} Version: {{VERSION}} Date: {{DATE}} Author: {{AUTHOR}} Status: Draft | In Review | Approved Reviewers: {{REVIEWERS}}

Document History

Version Date Author Changes
0.1 {{DATE}} {{AUTHOR}} Initial draft

1. Epic Overview

Epic ID Epic Name Business Goal Story Count Status Target Release
EP-01 {{EPIC_NAME}} {{BUSINESS_GOAL}} {{COUNT}} Backlog / In Progress {{RELEASE}}
EP-02
EP-03

2. Epic Templates

Epic: EP-01 — {{EPIC_NAME}}

Epic Statement: As a {{PERSONA}}, I need {{CAPABILITY}} so that {{BUSINESS_VALUE}}.

Business Goal: {{BUSINESS_OBJECTIVE_REFERENCE}} Priority: Must Have | Should Have | Could Have Estimated Size: {{X}} story points (rough) Target Sprint(s): Sprint {{X}} – Sprint {{Y}}

Acceptance Criteria at Epic Level:

  • {{HIGH_LEVEL_CRITERION_1}}
  • {{HIGH_LEVEL_CRITERION_2}}
  • {{HIGH_LEVEL_CRITERION_3}}

Stories in This Epic:

  • US-001: {{STORY_TITLE}}
  • US-002: {{STORY_TITLE}}
  • US-003: {{STORY_TITLE}}

3. Story Format Guide

Standard Story Format:

As a [persona/role],
I want [feature/action],
So that [benefit/outcome].

Acceptance Criteria Format (Given/When/Then):

Given [a precondition that must be true],
When [the user performs an action],
Then [the expected outcome occurs].

Key Principles:

  • Stories describe WHAT the user needs, not HOW to build it
  • Each story must be independently valuable and testable
  • Stories should be completable within a single sprint
  • If a story takes > 8 story points, break it into smaller stories
  • Acceptance criteria should be written as tests (they become test cases)

4. Story Backlog

Epic EP-01: {{EPIC_NAME}}

US-001: {{STORY_TITLE}}

Attribute Value
Epic EP-01: {{EPIC_NAME}}
Priority Must Have
Story Points 1
Sprint {{SPRINT_NUMBER}}
Assigned To {{AGENT/PERSON}}
Status Backlog
FR Reference FR-{{XXX}}
BR Reference BR-{{XXX}}

Story: As a {{PERSONA}}, I want {{ACTION/FEATURE}}, So that {{BENEFIT/OUTCOME}}.

Context: {{ADDITIONAL_CONTEXT_THAT_HELPS_UNDERSTAND_THE_STORY}}

Acceptance Criteria:

  • Given {{PRECONDITION}}, when {{USER_ACTION}}, then {{EXPECTED_RESULT}}
  • Given {{PRECONDITION}}, when {{USER_ACTION}}, then {{EXPECTED_RESULT}}
  • Given {{ERROR_CONDITION}}, when {{USER_ACTION}}, then {{ERROR_HANDLING}}

Technical Notes:

  • {{TECHNICAL_CONSTRAINT_OR_HINT}}

UI/UX Notes:

  • Screen / component: {{SCREEN_NAME}}
  • Design reference: {{FIGMA_LINK_OR_FILE}}
  • Responsive behavior: {{NOTES}}

Dependencies:

  • Blocked by: {{US-XXX | None}}
  • Blocks: {{US-XXX | None}}
  • External: {{THIRD_PARTY_DEPENDENCY | None}}

Definition of Done:

  • Code complete and follows coding standards
  • Unit tests written (≥ 80% coverage on new code)
  • Code review approved by Tech Lead
  • Merged to develop
  • Deployed to staging
  • All acceptance criteria manually verified
  • No critical or high bugs open
  • Documentation updated (if applicable)

US-002: {{STORY_TITLE}}

Attribute Value
Epic EP-01
Priority Must Have
Story Points {{POINTS}}
Sprint {{SPRINT}}
Assigned To {{AGENT}}
Status Backlog
FR Reference FR-{{XXX}}

Story: As a {{PERSONA}}, I want {{ACTION}}, So that {{BENEFIT}}.

Acceptance Criteria:

  • Given {{PRECONDITION}}, when {{USER_ACTION}}, then {{EXPECTED_RESULT}}
  • Given {{PRECONDITION}}, when {{USER_ACTION}}, then {{EXPECTED_RESULT}}

Dependencies: Blocked by: {{US-001 | None}}

Definition of Done: (same as standard DoD above)

Epic EP-02: {{EPIC_NAME}}

US-010: {{STORY_TITLE}}

Attribute Value
Epic EP-02
Priority Should Have
Story Points {{POINTS}}
Sprint {{SPRINT}}
Assigned To {{AGENT}}
Status Backlog

Story: As a {{PERSONA}}, I want {{ACTION}}, So that {{BENEFIT}}.

Acceptance Criteria:

  • Given {{PRECONDITION}}, when {{USER_ACTION}}, then {{EXPECTED_RESULT}}

Dependencies: None

Definition of Done: (standard DoD)

5. Story Estimation Guide

Points Complexity Examples
1 Trivial Update a label, fix a CSS bug, add a config option
2 Simple Simple form field, read-only data display, static page
3 Moderate CRUD for one entity, simple filter, email notification
5 Complex Multi-step form, API integration, complex UI component
8 Very Complex New module with CRUD + logic + UI + tests
13+ Too Large Break into smaller stories

Planning Poker: Use async estimation — each team member estimates independently, then compare and discuss outliers.

6. Definition of Ready Checklist

Before a story can be added to a sprint, verify:

  • Story is written in As a / I want / So that format
  • Story has at least 2 acceptance criteria in Given/When/Then format
  • Story has been estimated in story points
  • Dependencies are identified and not blocking
  • UI/UX design exists (or story is backend-only)
  • Technical approach is understood (no major unknowns)
  • Priority is assigned (MoSCoW)
  • Story size is ≤ 8 points (or confirmed as a spike)
  • Acceptance criteria are testable by QA
  • FR reference documented

7. Story Breakdown Techniques

Technique When to Use How
CRUD Split Create/Read/Update/Delete are all in one story Split into 4 stories (View, Create, Edit, Delete)
Happy Path First Story handles many edge cases First story = happy path only; subsequent stories = edge cases
Data Variations Story handles many data types Split by data type or category
Workflow Steps Multi-step process in one story Split by step (Step 1 as standalone value, etc.)
User Type Split Different users, different experiences One story per user type
Performance Deferred Core function + performance optimization mixed Functional story first; performance story second
UI + API Split Full-stack story too large API story first; UI story depends on API story

8. Story Mapping Visualization

USER JOURNEY:  [Discovery] → [Registration] → [Core Feature] → [Management] → [Reporting]

MVP           US-001         US-020           US-030           US-040           —
(Release 1)

Release 2     —              US-021           US-031           US-041           US-050

Release 3     —              —                US-032           US-042           US-051

Replace with actual story IDs mapped to user journey steps and release priority

9. Backlog Summary

Epic Total Stories Estimated Points In Sprint Done Remaining
EP-01: {{NAME}} {{COUNT}} {{POINTS}} {{COUNT}} {{COUNT}} {{COUNT}}
EP-02: {{NAME}}
Total

Velocity (last sprint): {{STORY_POINTS_COMPLETED}} Projected completion: Sprint {{X}} ({{DATE}})

Approval

Role Name Date Signature
Author
Reviewer
Business Analyst
Product Owner
AI Director (John)

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