Template

Story mapping workshop template

Lay out everything a user does, step by step, across a wall; put the detailed stories under each step; then draw a line for the smallest first release that still works end to end.

120 minutesFor Product managers, designers, engineers and somebody who talks to customersAgenda room
Change the agenda first

The agenda, with a time for each part

  1. Who it is for, and what they are trying to do15 min
    • Who is the user, and what are they trying to get done?
  2. The steps, left to right25 min
    • What does somebody do first, then next, then after that?
  3. Stories under each step40 min
    • What exactly happens at this step?
    • What can go wrong here?
  4. Slice the first release25 min
    • What is the least we can build at each step that still works from start to finish?
  5. What happens next15 min
    • Who writes up the first slice, and when do we show it to a customer?

How the notes read afterwards

A made-up example, so you can see the shape. In a real call each line carries the words that were said and who said them.

User. A clinic manager booking staff for next month's shifts.

Steps. See who is free → offer shifts → people accept → fill gaps → publish the rota.

First slice. A shared list of free people, shift offers by email, a published rota as a PDF.

Next. Mia writes the first slice by Thursday; we show it to two clinics next week.

Running it well

Ways to change it

RemoteUse a shared online board with one column per step, and give everyone ten minutes to add stories alone before discussing them.
Existing productMap how it works today first, mark the painful steps in red, and slice the next release from those.

When to skip it. For a small change to one step of something that already works; a short design discussion is enough.

Questions

What is user story mapping?

A way of arranging a product's user stories along the steps a user takes, left to right, with details underneath, so a team can see the whole journey and choose what to build first.

Who created story mapping?

It was popularised by Jeff Patton, who wrote the book User Story Mapping.

What is a release slice in a story map?

A horizontal line across the map: everything above it is in the release. A good slice has something at every step, so the product works from start to finish.

What happens in the room

Everybody joins from the link, with no account. The agenda sits beside the call and each item fills in with what was said about it, under the name of the person who said it.

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