User Stories are short descriptions of a required feature and they are reported from the perspective of the User requiring the functionality. They should state how the requirement will be accepted and should be small enough to be completed within a single Sprint. The user story may also be broken down into smaller Tasks and typically follows the following format:
* As a <User>
* I want to <action>
* So that <benefit>
Planned User Stories
During a Sprint, multiple User Stories should be Planned (typically six to ten per Sprint). Each User Story should consist of the highest priority Requirements at that time. Requirements that are particularly complex may require decomposing. This may be the case for large requirements that are too big for delivering within a single Sprint. The product owner is then responsible for splitting the requirements into several User Stories for delivering in increments over several Sprints.
Creating User Stories
Firstly, when creating a user story the project stakeholders must be identified along with the likely users of the product. The product owner must then work with the stakeholders, such that they can represent the voice of the customer for each requirement. Working with the stakeholders will allow the product owner to document all of the product requirements in order to create the user story.
Breaking Down Requirements
Firstly the product owner is responsible for refining the product requirements. This refinement then occurs at various stages of an Agile project. The requirements are initially refined when creating the product roadmap. The requirements are broken down further when creating the product release plan and finally when creating the sprint plan. At the sprint planning stage, the individual tasks associated with each requirement are identified.
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