User Stories: Defining MVP Features That Truly Matter
Agile methodologies do not only strive for speed and flexibility in product development. They aim to create shared understanding, stripping away technical terminology to focus on actionable narratives. User stories expressed in plain and simple English are one such example. They are a unit of product development that defines a feature to deliver within a single sprint.
Here is an example of a user story:
“As a fashion-conscious shopper, Jane, I want to filter products by color so that I can quickly find the matching item.“
They have come to wrap the older functionality-driven approach, which would have previously sounded:
“Implement color filtering for the product listing page.“
Comparing the two, the Agile way seems a bit too wordy, and you would still need to distill development tasks. So, why do the extra work?
Well, let’s raise the following questions: which way sounds like you’re developing for a person? Which one creates ground for empathy and development that considers emotions? Which way makes you feel that, oh, hey, maybe this user also needs a filter by finish – matte, glossy, or shimmering? For Jane, the finish can be a make-it-or-break-it factor. So, without a doubt, the Agile user stories make you connect to the person you’re developing for. And it translates into financial success:
- McKinsey found that a company focusing on human-centered design will grow by 32% more than a functionality-driven company.
- Deloitte published the data that 86% of users demonstrate a willingness to pay more for products they connect with emotionally.
- ZipDo discovered that emotionally-connected design increases LTV (customer lifetime value) by 23%.
Table of contents
Why Else Does Your Startup Needs User Stories?
Here are several ways user stories elevate the product development compared to a conventional approach operating in technical terms.
User Stories Benefit #1: Focusing on the user, not the tech item
According to Mike Cohn:
“User stories help shift the focus from writing about requirements to talking about them.”
Using the user stories allows the shift from focus on implementation to focus on who to do the feature for and why.
For instance, imagine a tech-focused feature, “Develop a wishlist module integrated with the user account system”. In this case, the conversation is likely to be around reusing the existing schema to save time, introducing the database tables, and syncing it all with the API.
Contrast it with the user story, “As a busy shopper, Mark, I want to select items into a list so that I can decide to buy them later.” The conversation in this instance will focus on Mark. This user might be shopping on the phone, maybe not even logged in. So, for a busy shopper, it might be beneficial to even add an auto-save feature for ‘wished’ items, even when the user is not logged in. Later, a marketer might even suggest using those autosaved lists to send a reminder to create an account and increase conversions.
As such, user stories make product development focus on human experiences, personas’ goals, and user contexts.
User Stories Benefit #2: Empower All Team Members to Contribute
A decade ago, a typical development team would have 1-2 backend engineers, 1 front-end developer, and a QA specialist. Tech tasks in the form of tickets would appear on Jira, and the team will discuss the ‘how’ of implementation.
Today, teams are intentionally cross-functional. They include the voices of a Product Owner, a UX researcher, an Agile Marketing Lead, etc. These are rather non-technical roles, and to enable their collaboration, a discussion focused on non-technical user stories would land much better.
Moreover, in a functionality-focused team organization, engineers would complete a feature and prepare a hand-off message for a marketer. Then, the marketer would work on their bit in isolation, and once done, hand off their results to Ops or Support.
Instead, imagine discussing a user story during a meeting of a cross-functional team. The PM would introduce the Persona, their frustration, and the ideal solution – filtering by color and by finish. A marketer can immediately swoop in by including this feature in the next campaign, maybe even with a demo of the feature. Finally, the Ops would think about filtering options impacting stock levels and the needed prep for that.
Agile user stories create collaboration. Tech-focused tickets work in isolation. Even if you invited a marketer to a meeting between engineers discussing the implementation, it would not be likely to make any effect. How would a marketer contribute to a debate about cache invalidation, data binding, and async calls? And how will hearing this help the marketer to create a value-driven message to the target customer? User stories stripped of any tech terminology bring everyone on the same level and let them be equal contributors for the Persona at hand.
User Stories Benefit #3: Driving Product Value
According to the InnovationMode:
“Properly written user stories provide a solid basis for communication and collaboration — focusing on what matters most to the user.”
Imagine the discussion above for filtering by color and finish for a fashion-conscious shopper, Jane. Using user stories, the conversation is likely to move forward, driven by the question “How else can we delight this fashion-conscious Jane Persona?” A UX designer might suggest using actual product photos for color swatches. Moreover, what if the team could show the user how this color with that finish looks on the user’s individual skin tone? Circling back to the popular social media trend of color analysis appointments – this user story (turning more into an epic now) could feel like a high-value personal stylist. There are many social media influencers in this niche, and the marketing campaign with that feature can be true gold.
In contrast, in a functionality-focused development, user value is perceived as a byproduct of implementation. The feature would be considered done regardless of proof of value for a user.
User Stories Benefit #4: Quality Deliverables
Based on academic research on the efficiency of user stories:
“Thanks to the identification of the right requirements, developers are enabled to create the right software… User stories force developers to meet the customer numerous times, resulting in code that is very close to customer expectations.”
What the quote says is that user stories align extremely well with lean thinking. Moreover, you get to validate the feature in terms of the product hypothesis quite fast. This speeds up learning – you quickly figure out what works and whether you need to pivot.
User Stories: The Biggest Bonus & Need for Expertise
From Day 1 of eliciting requirements and planning development, all team members know they create something for “fashion-conscious Jane” or “busy shopper Mark”. Every user story makes sure to highlight and remind of it. This makes it a norm for every person working on a project to step into the Persona’s shoes, internalize their frustrations, and think of perfecting their experiences. Products delivered from user stories are emotionally resonant. They capture user hearts and help businesses build relationships.
However, interestingly, when academics surveyed practitioners on the effectiveness of user stories, an interesting correlation emerged: the higher the expertise of the surveyed person with user stories, the higher were scores on increased productivity and quality from applying those.
So, let’s break down what a user story is and how to write a good one.
What is a User Story?
The format of user stories is shown below.
And here are some quality examples:
“As an Industrial Facilities Manager, Cathy [Who] is responsible for maintaining production systems and sustainability [Why], which includes keeping equipment functional. She needs quick access to maintenance information and parts supply [What] for her facility’s entire inventory.”
“A landscaping business owner, Jack, [Who] needs to be able to order replacement parts and have access to resources [What] that will help him safely and properly service [Why] his equipment on his own.”
The ‘Why’ Part
While the format is quite simple, user stories do require expertise, and the ‘why’ part presents the biggest challenge. 10% of practitioners do not include the ‘why’ part, while others often struggle with it. Why does this part take the most effort? First of all, it takes at least three times asking ‘why?’ to arrive at the correct answer. Second, it often increases communication with target customers, which takes more resources. However, the ‘why’ part is critical to user stories and ensures:
- Gives developers autonomy.
- There is no confusion among team members.
- While it increases the time spent in communication with the target customers, it reduces the time of team discussions.
How to Write User Stories?
User stories begin with Who, and because of that, user stories make much more sense when your startup develops Personas first. Personas are fictional characters that represent your target customers with their context and needs. They might include a selection of behaviors and attitudes that impact the use of your product.
Once you have the Persona(s), you develop epics for your MVP development process. Epics are larger bits of functionality that Persona(s) will need so that they can solve their problems and be delighted. Here, it is essential to remember that while user stories are central to MVP development, they are not everything. In the image below, you can see that user stories fit in with functional requirements. However, you also need to take care of user journeys, non-functional requirements, and aesthetics.
Using Stories with Initiatives
Also, if your startup is rather complex or you are in the refinement stage of your monetization model, you might have to work with initiatives first. To put it simply:
- Initiative is something you want to achieve within a quarter or quarters.
- Epic is a bit of initiative that can be achieved within a few sprints.
- A user story is accomplished within a sprint.
For example, you are optimizing for channels and your LTV to CAC ratio is less than what you or investors would want. You decide to improve LTV by improving the retention rate. This is an initiative. To do that, you decide to improve the post-purchase experience for your customers. In terms of epics, you might draw up ideas for package tracking, reward points, etc. Finally, these epics are divided into sprint-sized user stories.
- Initiative – “Improve customer retention by 20%”.
- Epics – 1) Make the order tracking system more informative so that customer feels in control; 2) Introduce a loyalty program with reward points to encourage repeat purchases.
- User stories for Epic 1: “As a fashion-conscious shopper, Jane, eager to receive carefully selected items, I want to see exact delivery statuses such as order received, order shipped, on the way, and delivered, so that I am fully aware where my package is”; “As a fashion-conscious shopper, Jane, I want to be informed promptly about changes of the delivery status via SMS or email, so I can feel in control without checking it manually.”
User Stories and Team Workflows
Ron Jeffries coined the three C’s of working with user stories:
- Card – user stories are often written on cards or in card format.
- Conversation – they are discussed inside the cross-functional team, and sub-tasks are created.
- Confirmation – which is the definition of done (DoD) or acceptance criteria.
Even though writing user stories is mostly a Product Owner’s responsibility, every team member, be it a designer, developer, or marketer, can propose a user story. Then, the team meets for either backlog refinement or a sprint planning meeting, and they review these cards together.
Conversation extends beyond just those two meeting types. Team members can also continue informal discussions on Slack threads, during design reviews, or daily stand-ups. Since a user story captures the ‘intent’ rather than specification, the conversation is about fleshing out the details of implementing each particular user story.
Finally, confirmation is a quality check of the delivery. The Product Owner typically initiates the definition process of the acceptance criteria during the conversation phase. The dev team and QAs develop their respective unit tests and automated/manual tests to verify functionality. It might also include business confirmation – testing the value hypothesis of each user story.
Final Words
User stories are invaluable for modern MVP development. They bring value at all MVP development stages by:
- Increasing team productivity;
- Reducing waste of development effort;
- Defining the right functionality.
- Improving the business outcomes.
- And, ultimately, it results in higher revenues.
Moreover, user stories ensure a productive ground for team collaboration and creativity.
What hasn’t been said is that, in addition to all of the above, some practitioners note another benefit: “ stakeholders enjoy working with user stories, fostering a pleasant work environment.” User stories create a happier workplace, to top it all off.
FAQ: User Stories: Defining MVP Features That Truly Matter
A user story is a short, simple description of a feature written from the user’s perspective. It explains who the user is, what they want to achieve, and why it matters.
A user story describes the user’s goal and motivation, while a technical requirement focuses on how a feature should be implemented. Stories guide solutions instead of prescribing them.
User stories define intent and value, but they do not fully replace specifications. Acceptance criteria, user journeys, and technical details are still needed for clarity and quality. Together, they ensure smooth implementation and testing.
User stories help teams focus on delivering the smallest set of features that provide real value. They support faster validation of assumptions through user feedback. This makes MVP development more efficient and goal-oriented.
User stories reduce waste by encouraging early validation of assumptions. They help teams avoid building unnecessary features. This aligns product development with lean principles.
