User Story Templates

A couple of people emailed me and asked me what the story cards looked like on our information radiator.

It is important to note that these story cards are only drafted after extensive modeling and feedback sessions during our modeling week.  We don’t use them in the traditional XP fashion and caution should be taken when implementing as this may deter from fluid communication if used improperly.

These templates are word documents that have been formatted to fit on a 4×6 index card.

As you can see the story card has several sections:

• Story Name:  This is the story name but it also contains the [Story Points] estimate in brackets.
• Business Analyst: This is the business analyst that has been assigned to the story.
• Systems Analyst: This is the systems analyst that has been assigned to the story.
• Developer:  This is the developer who has elected to make themselves responsible for the teams delivery of this story.
• Architect: This is the Architect who is responsible for insuring that the story stays within the Architectural Guidelines of the framework.
• Estimate SIT:  This is the date that team estimates when the story should be completed by.

If you notice the only stake holders that are listed are Pigs!  If you have other Pig roles you may want to include them as well.  Don’t include the chickens!

The templates can be downloaded from here.

Enjoy!

Note: Some of you may be wondering where the Acceptance Test are.  Well the stories are sent to Mercury Quality Center and the acceptance test plans are written against the stories there.