#10: Why User Stories are the Best Way to Capture Requirements with Mike Cohn

Brian and Mike talk about how to capture requirements with User Stories.

User Stories are not native to Scrum. We actually borrow the practice from XP. Traditionally, requirements were gathered in huge binders that were very detailed and complex. These were considered complete and were locked down when development began. Teams quickly found that change was a constant and this method of capturing requirements didn’t allow for requirements to emerge. Enter User Stories. 

Listen now to discover: 

2:15 - Mike talks about the history of User Stories

4:00 - Mike discusses the problem User Stories is attempting to solve

4:58 - Mike talks about making lunch

7:30 - Mike talks about when NOT to use User Stories

10:26 - Mike and Brian talk about The Beatles

14:00 - Is As a User an ok way to start a User Story?

15:00 - Mike talks about Job Stories

19:55 - Mike talks about some common mistakes people make with User Stories

23:00 - Is the So That clause needed?

Listen next time when we’ll be discussing… 

Mike Cohn returns to discuss Estimating with Brian. Mike has written a book about this (Agile Estimating and Planning) and will share his insights on this important topic.

References and resources mentioned in the show

User Stories Applied - by Mike Cohn

Better User Stories course - by Mike Cohn

Billboard interview with Paul McCartney where he talks about using personal pronouns

Intercom who makes chatbots

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This episode’s presenters are:

Brian Milner is SVP of coaching and training at Mountain Goat Software. He’s passionate about making a difference in people’s day-to-day work, influenced by his own experience of transitioning to Scrum and seeing improvements in work/life balance, honesty, respect, and the quality of work. 

Mike Cohn is co-founder of the Scrum Alliance, and founder of Mountain Goat Software. He’s a veteran of applying Scrum and agile principles and practices to help organizations build better products, and ship them on time.

Show edited by Rhett Gill.