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)