Effective User Stories for Agile Requirements Training

Projects start with their requirements. How those requirements are documented or expressed has a tremendous influence on the rest of the project. A great way to build software that meets real users’ real needs and gets the project off on the right foot is to begin with user stories.

User stories are simple, clear, brief descriptions of functionality told from the perspective of a user. User stories in agile and Scrum development can be useful to either a user of the software or the customer of the software. The idea is that these statements can make up the requirements of an agile or Scrum project.

The technique of expressing requirements as user stories is one of the most broadly applicable techniques introduced by the agile processes; and user stories can also be an effective approach on all time-constrained projects.

In his User Stories course, instructor and author Mike Cohn provides a front-to-back blueprint for writing user stories and weaving them into your development of lifecycle. The user stories training teaches participants how to identify and write good user stories. You’ll learn the six attributes all good stories must exhibit and 13 guidelines for writing a better user story. The class explores how user role modeling can help when gathering a project's initial stories. During this hands-on course, all particpants will have the opportunity to practice identifying user roles and writing stories on a case study.

In his book, User Stories Applied For Agile Software Development, Mike Cohn advocates the use of the user story as a requirements process that saves time, eliminates rework, and leads to better software. Mike will be personally teaching these user story classes:

Upcoming Public Training Classes

Date	Location	Taught By	Price
Aug 3, 2009	Boulder	Mike Cohn	$550 through 7/7; $650 thereafter
Sep 9, 2009	London	Mike Cohn	£700 + VAT
Nov 30, 2009	London	Mike Cohn	£700 + VAT

Participants Will Learn

Agile Development Training Participants Will Learn:

A useful template for writing user stories
The six attributes of a good story and how to achieve them
How to write non-functional requirements as user stories
How much work to do up-front and how much to do just-in-time
How to conduct a story-writing workshop
Practical examples from real-world projects

Who Should Attend a Mountain Goat Software User Story Training?

This user story course is equally suited for programmers, testers, managers, analysts and even customers and product owners who are interested in applying these agile story techniques to their projects. PMPs: This course counts for 8 Professional Development Units (PDUs).

About Your Trainer—Mike Cohn

Mike Cohn is the founder of Mountain Goat Software, a process and project management consultancy that specializes in helping companies adopt and improve their use of agile processes and techniques. He is known for advocating the use of "user stories" on the product backlog of agile projects. Mike is also the author of User Stories for Agile Software Development, and is a founding member of the Agile Alliance and the Scrum Alliance.

To get a sense of Mike’s style as a trainer, please watch a sample of Mike’s presentation at Google. You can also read comments from others who have attended his classes .

Mike can be reached at mike@mountaingoatsoftware.com.

Don’t see a date and location you like? Want to train a team or department without the hassle of travel? This agile course is available for onsite delivery. Contact Mike Cohn at (720) 890-6110 or by e-mail at mike@mountaingoatsoftware.com.

More information on User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development by Mike Cohn is available.

Download a PDF brochure with additional information.

For more information about user stories, a description of what a user story is, how it is used, the advantages and benefits of user stories, detailed examples of user stories, user story scenarios, how a user story differs from a use case and how agile user stories contribute to project success, please read this article. More information about user stories in agile and Scrum development processes is also available in this detailed presentation.