Learn all about the 3 C’s of user stories

Regarded as one of the most powerful constructs in the agile project and framework, user stories along with 3 c's of user stories are becoming more and more important. Whatever methodology you are following, having a strong foundation of the things that are needed to be done and a clear picture of those tasks is very crucial. Today in this article, we are going to explain all about the stories and the 3 c’s related to them. Having knowledge of how to write a great story, the estimation of these stories and various attributes attached to it is very much needed when you are going for Scrum Master training. So you are in good hands today, as we are going to let you know all about it and you can expand your knowledge and later enroll in the best CSM course for your career ahead in this field.

User stories and Why are they Crucial in the Team?

There are many times new requirements come in the project and due to unclear definitions and the explanation of these requirements, the project could suffer. So, to make sure that those requirements from the business are communicated well and the developers understand what needs to be done, the stories play a major role. Here all the things are mentioned clearly when they are written in a good way. The fundamental requirements of the projects can be well understood by using these stories.

The user stories build the foundation of the work that the team has to do in the project. Not only do these user stories help the team to track down the progress against each requirement and how they are affecting the whole project. Not only is the team going to be motivated and clear on what is needed, but they will also be able to deliver what is required by the customer in a clear way. The use of user stores will help in maintaining the time and resources in an effective way and hence they are very much important in any project. After discussing the three c’s of the user stories, we will give some points on writing good user stories as they need to be written in a very precise way and should be understandable to the team.

The 3 c’s of User stories

When the team has good stories to work on, they are not going to be just statements in those stories; it is going to be much more for the team. Good stories in the team will consist of these three elements in them:

Card

Working as a placeholder, the first C is Card. The user stories are written on the cards in concise form which is approximately 3x5 inches. There is a particular format that is being followed when the user stories are being written. This includes who, what and why. This is generally written as

“As a [who], I want to [what], so that [why]”

The first part consists of who is going to be responsible for the user stories and what profile or team is going to work on that. The second part of the sentence focuses on the work that is needed to be done. The last part of this consists of why this is needed and what are the implications on the project after the particular work is being done by the team. There are various ways in which they need and the requirement in the user stories can be gathered and then mentioned to the team. This is generally called the role, the action, and the benefit.

Conversation

The second C plays a major function and it is very important. Before the user stories are being added to the sprint, they need to be discussed thoroughly and the details should be out in the open. This is very important to discuss with the customers and the users the requirements so that things are clear. The valuable inputs can be gathered from the customers, stakeholders and the discussion generally held between the project manager and the team. The conversation part of the user stories makes sure that the requirements are elaborated in a precise manner and if there is any doubt in the user story, then it should be discussed out in the open so that everyone is on the same page.

This part of user stories can be verbal but the documents can be used for better support.

Confirmation

The last C of the user stories makes sure that things are clear for the team. It is seen many times that even though the conversations are done in a precise manner, there is sometimes an element of doubt left. So to tackle that, the third c comes to the picture. Here the confirmation is provided on the things that are needed in the user stories. The acceptance criteria are needed for the confirmation. The details in the acceptance criteria are met by the team of developers and should be written in the right way by the manager or the scrum master. These small details are going to save a lot of rework that needs to be done.

Using this, the development and testing part of the user stories can be completed in an effective way and the criteria will be met and delivered.

When all 3 C’s of user story are met and satisfied, the user stories are ready to be released and worked upon.

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How to write good user stories?

Now that we have covered the crucial three c's of user stories, it is time for us to look at how we can write the good user stories that will make the project efficient in the long run. The criteria which are followed for creating a good user story is INVEST, defined below:

I: Independent

One of the major things to be looked for when you are creating a user story is making sure that the stories do not affect one another. It is going to increase the work burden and it will not be an effective way to deliver the requirement.

N: Negotiable

Having flexibility in the project is going to take the project towards success in the long term. The same goes for the stories. The stories should be flexible enough for the developers and the testing team as per their work progress.

V: Valuable

If the value added to the product is not kept in mind, then writing user stories is going to be worthless. So whenever new user stories are being created, the value it adds to the project or the product should be kept in mind.

E: Estimable

The requirements are clearly mentioned in the user stories, so it should be taken care that the user stories can be estimated properly as well. The measurement of work required for the user stories will help in planning the sprint in an effective way. The priorities can be maintained using this and the work will be delivered on time.

S: Small

Making sure that the user stories are small enough that they are completed within the sprint is necessary otherwise the whole purpose of sprint planning is worthless. If there are bigger requirements in the given stories in a sprint, then they should be broken down into smaller pieces.

T: Testable

The development that is being done is the project that needs to be tested and it is mandatory. So, when writing a user story, it should be kept in mind that the stories are testable and the criteria needed to be tested are mentioned clearly in the user stories.

Conclusion

It is seen that if you are looking for the success of the scrum project, then you should give due consideration to the details present in the documents and user stories as well. With the 3 C’s user story and knowing about how to work for the good stories, the scrum master, as well as the project manager, would be able to make sure that the team is getting all the details and the communication is clear. When the three c’s are in place in these stories, the tiny details can be captured and it is made sure that the stories are not getting too complex for the team. These will help the team the success of the project as well.

If you wish to clear CSM Certification Online, you should have a clear knowledge about the scrum, sprints, the user stories, the story points, and many more things that will make the project run in the long term very successfully. You can go for CSM Training with StarAgile, where you will learn all about Agile and Scrum from the best professionals in the field. You can give a new direction to your career with CSM Certification Training with StarAgile. Grab your chance now and look for a brighter career as a scrum master for yourself only with StarAgile