How to create a User Story

As a <user> I want <function> so that<value>.

Above is a very simple user story template. How can something so simple be so hard to get right? User stories make up the heart of agile development. 

They are the primary input to the team. The team takes the user stories and creates product increments based on completing those stories. Unfortunately, getting user stories “right” is difficult to do right away. The Product Owner (or other product-facing roles) needs to learn how to create user stories that meet the needs of the team. This is a skill that can be learned over time, but I’m about to save you a bit of a learning curve.

In order to create good user stories, start by remembering to INVEST in good user stories. INVEST is an acronym that encompasses the following concepts which make up a good user story:   

1. Independent   
2. Negotiable   
3. Valuable  
4. Estimable   
5. Small  
6. Testable

Let’s cover each of them with a simple explanation.

Independent: Each User Story should represent a distinct and independent set of business values such that, were it released on its own, it would deliver incremental value over the previous state.

Negotiable: While the end-goal may be clearly described, the methods by which that goal is achieved should be negotiable – between the Product Owner and the Development Team, the Product Owner and the Customer, or any other involved stakeholders – so as to prevent unrealistic constraints on the feature or functionality.

Valuable: The business value of any User Story should be readily recognizable by reading the story, and each story should represent some sort of value to a specific user type.

Estimable: We must have enough information that we can properly size a story so that we may properly plan and commit to our work. (But no more!)

Small: User Stories should be small enough that they are able to be completed within a sprint.

Testable: All members of the team need a clear and precise way to verify whether or not a User Story has been completed.

If Product Owners and their teams work together to INVEST in good user stories the learning curve of working together will be much shorter. 
INVEST encourages good habits which eliminate some of the bigger problems of user stories like dependencies, being too big, hard to test, etc. Take the time to INVEST in good stories and see the dramatic change in how effective planning will become, as well as how productive the team will become.