User Stories Explained: What They Are, How to Write Them, and Why They Work

What are user stories, how do you write them, and why do they work so well in agile development? In this talk, Mike Cohn explains the purpose of user stories, the problems they solve, and how teams can use them to create better conversations, clearer understanding, and better product decisions. You’ll learn: • What user stories are • The problems user stories solve • The 3 Cs of user stories • How to write effective user stories • What Conditions of Satisfaction are • Why user stories shift the focus from writing to conversation • Why user stories work so well for agile teams This presentation was recorded at the Norwegian Developers Conference on June 6, 2012. Timestamps: 00:00 What are user stories? 00:30 Problems user stories solve 06:40 3 Cs of user stories 13:04 Sample user stories 17:12 Conditions of Satisfaction 22:33 The product backlog iceberg 33:19 User story writing workshops 36:22 Why user stories 36:32 Shift from writing to talking 39:56 Words are imprecise 42:50 More reasons user stories work 47:46 Stories support participatory design 50:52 User stories: Conversations over cards Want to dive deeper into user stories? Join one of Mike Cohn’s live, online Better User Stories courses: https://learn.mountaingoatsoftware.com/bus-mike-live?utm_source=YouTube