User Story Template Skill

This skill helps create well-formed user stories that follow product management best practices.

When to Use

Activate this skill when:

• Creating new features or requirements
• Writing GitHub issues for product work
• Planning sprints or releases
• Documenting user needs

User Story Format

Every user story should follow this structure:

Title

Clear, concise feature name (what, not how)

User Story Statement

As a [type of user]
I want [an action or feature]
So that [benefit or value]

Examples:

• ✅ As a project manager, I want to view all active issues in one dashboard, so that I can quickly assess project status
• ✅ As a developer, I want to filter issues by label, so that I can focus on my assigned work
• ❌ As a user, I want a button (too vague, doesn't explain why)

Acceptance Criteria

Clear, testable conditions that must be met. Use "Given-When-Then" format:

Given [initial context]
When [action occurs]
Then [expected outcome]

Example:

Given I am viewing the project dashboard
When I click the "Filter" button
Then I see a dropdown with all available labels
And I can select multiple labels to filter by
And the issue list updates to show only matching issues

Additional Sections (Optional)

Dependencies:

• What must be completed first?
• What other systems/features does this rely on?

Open Questions:

• What needs clarification?
• What decisions need to be made?

Technical Notes:

• Implementation guidance (if known)
• Performance considerations
• Security concerns

Design Assets:

• Links to mockups, wireframes, or designs
• Screenshots or examples

Quality Checklist

Before finalizing a user story, verify:

• Independent - Can be developed separately from other stories
• Negotiable - Details can be discussed and refined
• Valuable - Delivers clear value to users or business
• Estimable - Team can estimate effort reasonably
• Small - Can be completed in one sprint (typically)
• Testable - Success criteria are clear and verifiable

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Too Technical

❌ "Add a REST endpoint at /api/v2/users with authentication" ✅ "As an admin, I want to manage user accounts via API, so that I can automate user provisioning"

Too Vague

❌ "Make the dashboard better" ✅ "As a manager, I want to see project velocity trends, so that I can forecast delivery dates"

Missing the "Why"

❌ "As a user, I want dark mode" ✅ "As a user, I want dark mode, so that I can reduce eye strain during evening work sessions"

No Acceptance Criteria

Stories without clear acceptance criteria lead to:

• Scope creep
• Unclear completion
• Misaligned expectations
• Difficult QA

Workflow Integration

When creating user stories:

1. Check for prior art - Search existing issues and documents for similar features
2. Write the story - Follow the template above
3. Add to project board - Link to appropriate milestone/epic
4. Tag appropriately - Use labels like 'feature', 'enhancement', 'user-story'
5. Save insights - Record decisions and rationale for future reference

Example: Complete User Story

Title: Multi-Project Dashboard View

User Story: As a product manager overseeing multiple projects I want to view aggregated metrics across all my projects in one dashboard So that I can identify bottlenecks and allocate resources effectively

Acceptance Criteria:

Given I manage 3 active projects When I navigate to the "Overview" dashboard Then I see a summary card for each project showing:

• Project name and status
• Open vs closed issues count
• Recent activity (last 7 days)
• Team members assigned

And I can click any project card to drill into details And the dashboard loads in under 2 seconds And data refreshes every 5 minutes automatically

Dependencies:

• Project metadata API must support batch queries
• User must have "manager" role on at least one project

Open Questions:

• Should we limit to 10 projects max, or paginate?
• Do we show archived projects by default?

Technical Notes:

• Consider caching strategy for performance
• Use existing project card component for consistency

Design Assets:

• See Figma: [link to dashboard mockup]