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USER STORY CANVAS AND HOW TO USE IT

Agile Practice26.01.2016

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Maksim Gaponov – Agile/Lean Coach

Experience10+ years in IT. Developer background and management experience as a team lead, project manager, product manager and CTO. Worked both in large companies and smaller start-ups. Over 7 years of Agile experience, Maksim is an seasoned coach, trainer and speaker at various conferences, including AgileDays.

Certificates Member of Scrum Alliance, Certified Scrum Product Owner Member of International Consortium for Agile (ICAgile), ICAgile

Certified Professional, ICP-Business Value Analysis, ICP-Agile Coaching, ICAgile accredited trainer

Member of Scrum.org, Professional Scrum Master (PSM I)

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What’s wrong with User Stories?They are universal Like a super-glue that sticks anything to

anything User Stories should reflect all the

knowledge we have about the product It’s not obvious what should be included

and what notToo big, too small Make User Stories general and you will

loose control Make User Stories detailed and you will

be buried with supporting them

Scaled/distributed environments Communication gaps lead to rework (both

in discovery and delivery) Lack of standardized description Loss of focus in discussions

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What a User Story should beWe need to pay attention to Who, What and Why sides User story context in different aspects Support shared understanding across the

team Feasibility issues Scaled environment Team distribution

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Meet the User Story Canvas

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Fill-in order

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Communications section

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What are the communications?Target persona You’re already using personas, do you? What is the primary user type for this

functionality? Bring personal context and build empathy

through this pointConsultants Who has knowledge/experience in this topic

in your environment? Do you have access to subject matter

experts? Do you know your colleagues did something

similar?

Customers Who are the customers for this

functionality? Is there a potential conflict of interest

between them? What are their expectations?Stakeholders Who’s interests you need to address? Are there possible conflicts of interests

between stakeholders? Who can be affected by this functionality? Did we miss somebody?

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Context section

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What are the boundaries for the User Story?Need statement This is about Why side What particular user need we wand to

address? What goal the user wants to achieve in

real life expecrience?

Usage context What surrounds the user in his

environment? What are previous steps in real life

experience that lead to usage of this functionality?

What will the user do with results of functionality usage?

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User Story Section

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Here Comes the User StoryUser Story Keep usual User Story format Remember Who, What and WhyAcceptance criteria How will we understand that functionality

is fully implemented? Do you have standards for describing

acceptance criteria?

Possible solutions There are always lots of ways to

accomplish the same thing Bear Output vs Outcome principle in mind Use your colleagues’ knowledge,

experience and creativity

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Feasibility section

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What do we need and what can block us?Constraints What knowledge and experience is

required to deliver this functionality? What tools are required (databases,

frameworks, APIs, etc)?Data needed What data we need to operate when

implementing this functionality? Can data or it’s usage affect other parts

of sotware?

Dependencies Are there dependencies with other sUser

Stories in current release? Are there dependencies with User Stories

in future releases?

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Outcome section

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Are we there?Outcome Remember the Why side. Why do you

need this in your product? Why your user needs this?

What metrics will you use to reflect the outcome? Do you need to develop them along with the functionality?

What outcome trends will be considered positive or/negative? How will you react on that?

Feedback What means will you use for getting

user/customer feedback on functionality delivered?

Do you have everything in place for gathering feedback?

How will you interpret and react on the feedback?

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How and when to use User Story CanvasPBR sessions Release PBR for high-level discussions Sprint PBR for detailed discussionsBring focus to your discussions Decide what areas/slots do you cover on

what meetings Keep meetings focused

Tweak your product management process and tools Build and support shared understanding

of your product across the team Standardize product documentation

process Tweak content fields in tools you use for

product/project management

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Questions and answers

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Upcoming Agile Practice webinars

In Search for Team’s EfficiencyFebruary 5, 2016Mikhail Podurets

Best Tools to Develop Soft Skills in Scrum and Agile DevelopmentFebruary 16, 2016Slava Moskalenko