It would be helpful if users wrote user stories in user-action-benefit triples.
Consider the following three refinements:
- “As a Spotify user, I would like to add songs to a playlist.” Can I break this down further? (Yes).
- “As a Spotify user, I would like a menu option to add a song to a playlist.” Specifying the mechanism.
- “As a Spotify user, I would like new songs to be added to the bottom of the playlist.” Specifying the policy enacted by the mechanism.
In these examples, the benefits aren't super clear. The user and action are super clear in 2 and 3, but in different ways. Articulating the benefits may not be necessary, but it can help tackle complexity when users ask for contradictory requirements:
“As a Spotify user, I would like new songs to be added to the top of the playlist.”
Specifying the policy enacted by the mechanism; conflicts with story 3.
Can it be enhanced by specifying what the benefits are? (Yes.)
“As a Spotify user, I would like new songs to be added to the top of the Playlist, so that when I'm talking to friends on Facebook Messenger and they mention a song I should listen to, I can immediately listen to it without losing my playlist.”
(Ugh, that's so annoying, Spotify/Facebook!! :) )