user story invest examples, The acronym “INVEST” is a mnemonic created by Bill Wake to help remember the characteristics of a good user story. INVEST stands for:
- Independent
- Negotiable
- Valuable
- Estimable
- Small
- Testable
Let’s break down each attribute and provide examples:
- Independent:
- Each story should be independent and avoid overlap or dependencies on other stories.
- Example: Instead of having a user story like “As a user, I want to log in using email after registration,” have two separate stories: “As a user, I want to register” and “As a user, I want to log in using email.”
- Negotiable:
- The details of how a story is implemented should be open for discussion. The story outlines the requirement but doesn’t dictate the solution.
- Example: “As a user, I want to be able to filter products by price” without specifying the exact UI/UX or technical implementation.
- Valuable:
- Each story should provide value to the end-users or stakeholders.
- Example: “As an online shopper, I want a checkout summary page so that I can review my items before purchasing.”
- Estimable:
- It should be possible to estimate the effort required for a story, even if the estimation isn’t exact.
- Ambiguous Example: “As a user, I want a better user interface.” (What does “better” mean here? This is too vague.)
- Clear Example: “As a user, I want a search bar at the top of the homepage to easily search for products.”
- Small:
- Stories should be small enough to be completed within one sprint/iteration.
- Large Epic: “As a user, I want a comprehensive user profile management system.”
- Small Story (from the above epic): “As a user, I want to change my profile picture.”
- Testable:
- It should be clear how to test the story and determine whether it meets the acceptance criteria.
- Ambiguous Example: “As a user, I want faster loading times.” (What does “faster” mean quantitatively?)
- Clear Example: “As a user, I want the homepage to load within 3 seconds on a standard broadband connection.”
By ensuring that user stories align with the INVEST criteria, Agile teams can enhance the clarity of requirements, streamline the development process, and ensure that deliverables are valuable and of high quality.