Product Description

The concept of user stories has its roots as one of the main tenets of Extreme Programming. In simple terms, user stories represent an effective means of gathering requirements from the customer (roughly akin to use cases). This book describes user stories and demonstrates how they can be used to properly plan, manage, and test software development projects. The book highlights both successful and unsuccessful implementations of the concept, and provides sets of questions and exercises that drive home its main points. After absorbing the lessons in this book, readers will be able to introduce user stories in their organizations as an effective means of determining precisely what is required of a software application.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4605 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-18
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Synopsis
The concept of user stories has its roots as one of the main tenets of Extreme Programming. In simple terms, user stories represent an effective means of gathering requirements from the customer (roughly akin to use cases). This book describes user stories and demonstrates how they can be used to properly plan, manage, and test software development projects. The book highlights both successful and unsuccessful implementations of the concept, and provides sets of questions and exercises that drive home its main points. After absorbing the lessons in this book, readers will be able to introduce user stories in their organizations as an effective means of determining precisely what is required of a software application.

From the Back Cover

Agile requirements: discovering what your users really want. With this book, you will learn to:

• Flexible, quick and practical requirements that work

• Save time and develop better software that meets users' needs

• Gathering user stories -- even when you can't talk to users

• How user stories work, and how they differ from use cases, scenarios, and traditional requirements

• Leveraging user stories as part of planning, scheduling, estimating, and testing

• Ideal for Extreme Programming, Scrum, or any other agile methodology

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Thoroughly reviewed and eagerly anticipated by the agile community, User Stories Applied offers a requirements process that saves time, eliminates rework, and leads directly to better software.

The best way to build software that meets users' needs is to begin with "user stories": simple, clear, brief descriptions of functionality that will be valuable to real users. In User Stories Applied, Mike Cohn provides you with a front-to-back blueprint for writing these user stories and weaving them into your development lifecycle.

You'll learn what makes a great user story, and what makes a bad one. You'll discover practical ways to gather user stories, even when you can't speak with your users. Then, once you've compiled your user stories, Cohn shows how to organize them, prioritize them, and use them for planning, management, and testing.

• User role modeling: understanding what users have in common, and where they differ

• Gathering stories: user interviewing, questionnaires, observation, and workshops

• Working with managers, trainers, salespeople and other "proxies"

• Writing user stories for acceptance testing

• Using stories to prioritize, set schedules, and estimate release costs

• Includes end-of-chapter practice questions and exercises

User Stories Applied will be invaluable to every software developer, tester, analyst, and manager working with any agile method: XP, Scrum... or even your own home-grown approach.

ADDISON-WESLEY PROFESSIONAL

Boston, MA 02116

www.awprofessional.com

ISBN: 0-321-20568-5

About the Author

Mike Cohn is the founder of Mountain Goat Software, a process and project management consultancy and training firm. With more than twenty years of experience, Mike has been a technology executive in companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 40s, and is a founding member of the Agile Alliance. He frequently contributes to industry-related magazines and presents regularly at conferences. He is the author of User Stories Applied (Addison-Wesley, 2004).

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Customer Reviews

The reality is requirements change and evolve!
This book delivers a practical, lightweight solution to requirements gathering and management. User stories can stand-alone in their own right, or can be used in conjunction with other agile methodologies or techniques. In fact Cohn gives examples of how user stories have been implemented in more traditional IEEE 830 projects with strict audit requirements.

User stories are an agile practice. Like other agile practices, they put the customer at the heart of the process. Agile practices work by communication; by involving the customer they focus on business value. Cohn keeps this underlying principle at the centre of his arguments for adopting user stories.

The book contains information not only about writing user stories but how they fit into, and drive, agile development processes. Cohn favours the SCRUM methodology and XP practices. These are referred to throughout the text and are summarized in the books Appendices.

At the end of each chapter a summary of responsibilities for developers and customers (along with a summary and a set of questions) are given. If nothing else these will act as a point of discussion, particularly with those who subscribe to the 'big up front design' school of thought.

All chapters are short and to the point. The sections are broken up well and the book gains from having a simple, working example given in part 4 showing how the techniques in the first 3 sections are applied to a practical situation.

My opinion is that this is an excellent book, anyone who is undertaking, or involved, an IT project would do well to read this. If nothing else it offers an alternative to 'traditional' waterfall-orientated processes, or no formal requirements management at all (beer-mat specifications).

As a personal recommendation, I would suggest looking at the other titles in the Addison Wesley Signature Series.

More then a story on stories
Mike Cohn is one of the founding members of the Agile Alliance. This long term commitment to the agile movement and agile thinking shows in his writings, and this book is no exception.

The book addresses user stories, it investigates the user story from different perspectives, explains thoroughly how to get to the point where the story reaches its conclusion. Then the book goes further. It expands the role of a story into planning of releases and products, making it the centre of software or product development.

A very readable book not only if you want to develop practices around stories, but also if you need an insight in the impact of implementing agile practices in your environment.

All you ever need to know about User Stories !
Mike Cohn's book User Stories Applied is an excellent handbook on how to write User Stories and their role in agile software development. The book covers planning and tracking team velocity against the plan, including how to get started with these techniques. Mike really knows his subject and his book captures useful hints and tips for Customers and Developers based on practical experience with User Stories. I recommend this book to any team who want to get the best from the application of User Stories on their projects.