Requirements and User Stories

What are Requirements?

a specification of what should be built describes system properties and behaviors which may be a constraint on the development process
properties and behavior that a product must have to provide value to a stakeholder
anything that drives design choices

Techniques for Eliciting Requirements

Read existing documentation
Thinking aloud (Thought Experiments)
Group Workshop (Design Spring)
UX Mockups Prototypes
Observe Users
Online Research

Documenting Requirements

One page product brief
2-5 pages of key features
50 page product requirements document (PRD)
250 page specification with screen mockups, state diagrams, data models,...

Alternative to PRD: Basecamp's Pitch

describe the problem
sketches of solution
rabbit holes: risk of sinking time
no-gos: what we are not doing

User Stories

Three C's: Card, Conversation, Confirmation
- Card: short description of feature
- Conversation: discussion about feature
- Confirmation: acceptance criteria