1. Slicing the Cake
Strategies for User Story Decomposition
Milwaukee Agile Meetup
March 11, 2014
Dave Neuman

2. What is a User Story?

3. What is a User Story?
Feature
Desired interaction between user and system
Invitation to have a conversation
Written by product owner
Collaboration
Independent
Negotiable
Valuable
Estimatable
Small
Testable
As a [user role]
I want to [goal]
so I can [reason]
Not a requirement Not a use case
Vertical slice through a system

4. Vertical Slices
over
Horizontal Slices
Web UI
Middleware
Data Layer

5. Strategies for
Vertical Slicing
http://www.christiaanverwijs.nl/post/2013/05/17/8-useful-strategies-for-
splitting-large-user-stories-(and-a-cheatsheet).aspx
christiaanverwijs.nl

6. 8 Strategies for Vertical Slicing
1. Workflow steps?!
!
What steps does a user perform?
Are all steps necessary (right now)?
Can steps be simplified (for now)?
!
Ex: steps in an order process, like selecting a
payment option, delivery method, etc
2. Business rules?!
!
What rules apply to this story?
Are all business rules necessary (right now)?
Can simpler rules suffice (for now)?
!
Ex: payment methods allowed during the purchase
process
3. Happy/unhappy flows?!
!
What does the happy/unhappy flow look like?
Are all unhappy flows necessary (right now)?
Can unhappy flows be simplified (for now)?
!
Ex: failures during web shopping order process
and possible recovery options
4. Input options?!
!
Which platforms are supported?
Are all platforms necessary (right now)?
Are some platforms harder than others?
!
Ex: web, tablet, iPhone, iPad, Android
christiaanverwijs.nl
but there could be more…

7. 8 Strategies for Vertical Slicing
5. Data types & parameters?!
!
What data types are supported?
Are all data types necessary (right now)?
What parameters are relevant (for now)?
!
Ex: different search options / strategies or different
kinds of reports (tables, graphs, etc.)
6. Operations?!
!
What operations does the story entail?
Are all operations necessary (right now)?
Can any operations be simplified (for now)?
!
Ex: splitting on CRUD (create, read, update,
delete)
7. Test cases / acceptance
criteria?!
!
What tests are used to verify this story?
What acceptance criteria apply?
Are all test scenarios necessary (for now)?
!
Ex: some test scenarios may be very complex, test
scenarios cover different functional requirements
8. Roles?!
!
What roles are involved in this story?
Are all roles necessary (right now)?
!
!
Ex: customers can create orders, administrators
can manage orders, etc.
christiaanverwijs.nl
but there could be more…

8. Let’s Explore
with Examples

9. Workflow
steps?
Business
rules?
Happy / unhappy
flows?
Input
options?
Data types &
parameters?
Operations?
Test cases /
acceptance criteria?
Roles?
Example #1

10. ERP!
Workorders,
Financials, T&E
Field Equipment
Data Collection
System
Field Service
Report
Example #2
Page 1
Page 5
Workflow
steps?
Business
rules?
Happy / unhappy
flows?
Input
options?
Data types &
parameters?
Operations?
Test cases /
acceptance criteria?
Roles?

11. Example #3
Workflow
steps?
Business
rules?
Happy / unhappy
flows?
Input
options?
Data types &
parameters?
Operations?
Test cases /
acceptance criteria?
Roles?

12. Questions
Answers
Dialogue