|
|
|
» Advantages of User Stories for Requirements
Extreme programming (XP) introduced the practice of expressing requirements in the form of user stories, short descriptions of functionality–told from the perspective of a user–that are valuable to either a user of the software or the customer of the software. The following are typical user stories for a job posting and search site:
- A user can post her resume to the web site.
- A user can search for jobs.
- A company can post new job openings.
- A user can limit who can see her resume.
But user stories are not just these small snippets of text. Each user story is composed of three aspects:
- Written description of the story, used for planning and as a reminder
- Conversations about the story that serve to flesh out the details of the story
- Tests that convey and document details that can be used to determine when a story is complete
Author: Mike Cohn
Read More ...
| Comments |
|
By
huyentrinh @
Thursday, December 06, 2007 7:07 AM
|
Hi Mike
It is interesting to know there is another way to capture requirements using User Stories since I’ve only followed RUP standard for the last 4 years. However, in this article you haven’t yet mentioned about project size that User Stories work best and other aspects such requirements management and changes management with User Stories. User Stories seem to me that they are more suitable for small size projects. Can you share your experience on project size and how requirements are managed with User Stories? I also concern how changes of scope are managed since User Stories are not permanent artifacts as Use Cases and will be discarded after use. And what do you use as requirements agreement between customers and development team?
Thanks,
Huyen
|
|
|
|
By
adrian @
Thursday, December 06, 2007 12:11 PM
|
Hi Huyen,
User Stories are one of the key artifacts for Agile analysis. From my perspective, the Agile methodology works for small to medium sized projects.
I have also heard of success stories on larger projects though I am yet to experience one. Personally, I cannot fathom how the Agile methodology can be effective, in the long run, for large projects.
Most large projects will fail without system documentation - knowing what the system does since these projects need to be maintained for years to come and many of them have very strict regulatory and legal constraints.
The Agile process does not encourage maintaining system documentation.
Best regards,
- Adrian
|
|
|
|
By
huyentrinh @
Thursday, December 06, 2007 7:05 PM
|
Hi Adrian,
In my last project, we had applied Agile methodology to improve project management after half way through the project, but not yet tried with requirements analysis so I wasn’t aware of User Stories.
I must agree with you on the need of maintaining documentation for complex systems in large projects though. I don’t think I would be comfortable just using verbal communication to gather requirements from clients and then start implementation without any paper agreement.
Anyway, I will have to do some more research to have a full understanding of this methodology.
I am so glad that I have joined this community where I can ask and discuss on business analysis experience.
Best regards,
Huyen
|
|
|
You must be logged in to post a comment. You can login here
|
|