Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you have an elaborate idea about a business project, but you just have too much information and don’t know where to start from?
This is common in creating everything, from making websites and developing software solutions, to building ceramics out of clay.
Of course the more complex the final product is, the harder it is to make it. This is where User Story Mapping comes in handy.
You have surely seen a scene in crime movies where they have this big dashboard and on it are faces of people that are connected to the crime. Below every connection, there is text explaining how they are connected and what they have done in the case.
Well User Story Mapping works the same way, only it’s a bit more complex.
What is User Story Mapping?
User Story Mapping is a visual representation of how a product or a software is developed through stages. It’s similar to a road map, but it’s more flexible and it allows for developing of different parts at different speeds, which in product or software development is very important because it saves time and money.
It’s called User Story Mapping because each step is written from the perspective of the user, like entering a password, or uploading a picture. Something that a user does and that action is described and inserted into the overall story/development of the project.
Here you can see how a typical User Story Map looks like. In User Story Mapping, the horizontal axis (in blue) shows the steps a user takes when using a product, like the process from beginning to end. And we can make it into a narrative if we add “then” after each step. So you open your browser, THEN you go to your email website, THEN you enter your credentials…
The vertical axis lists the tasks or features for each step, with the most important ones at the top. We can make a narrative of each vertical step with adding the word “or”. So you go to your email website by typing the address directly OR clicking on the address that is bookmarked previously, OR finding it thought a Google search.
These two parts make it easy for teams to see the big picture, plan their work, and focus on what’s most helpful for the user at each step. So the teams can decide what is the minimum that they should do to get the MVP – the Minimum Viable Product.
The Minimum Viable Product is like the bare minimum of your app or product that you can sell to the customer. For example, if you are making a cup out of clay, the MVP would be just a tiny vessel made out of clay that can store water and not leak.
The above is a representation of the MVP steps to check your email. We minimize the number of steps and make it as simple as possible, but still being functional so you can reach your final goal, to check your email.
Now imagine all of this applied to building a complex e-store app. You want it to have many features, many ways to pay and to choose for different types of delivery. But you must start with a very first simple app where the user will be able to just simply buy one of your product and choose one shipping and be happy with the purchase.
And with time you will be able to add more features, more ways to buy. More ways to look at the product, in 3D or with more pictures. You will be able to make the service better, but this first version will be your MVP – Minimum Viable Product.
User Story Mapping vs. Waterfall
To understand better User Story Mapping, you need to know that before it there was an approach in creating software and products called Waterfall.
Waterfall was more rigid approach that went through creation phases that were before agreed on and didn’t had a lot of flexibility or participation. It was easier to sell to investors because it had more simple and obvious frame, but it was rigid and bumped into problems during development.
This all changed in 2001 when a group of 17 software engineers published the Agile Manifesto that called for a more flexible methodology of creating software with more participation from the team.
Agile is a way of building software by making small improvements regularly. It focuses on working together as a team, talking to customers, and adjusting based on feedback. Instead of following a strict plan, the team works in short cycles, called sprints, to make progress. The goal is to get better results faster and make changes when needed, rather than sticking to a fixed plan.
That same year, Jeff Patton introduced the User Story Mapping method in his book “User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product”. User Story Mapping is used to visually represent the agile approach to creating a product or a software solution. The book was an instant hit and it spread through software development like a wildfire.
How Can User Story Mapping Help your Project?
User Story Mapping is useful in many aspects of product or software creation. It’s almost impossible today to imagine developing an app without having a User Story Map that will outline the steps and the options available.
If you go into any software agency, you will see a dashboard that has a User Story Map drawn on it, because it’s so crucial for efficient and timely development of software.
So main benefits of User Story Mapping are:
- Cutting Costs & Efficiency: this might sound a bit controversial, but this is the bottom line of a good story mapping. Cutting cost means better efficiency in creating your software app or your product. It means having an MVP – minimum viable product ready for less money, which gives you better chances of getting your app out there. It means you need less investment, your investors will be able to see your vision and use your app, so you would be able to get even more investments down the line.
- Visualization: Visualization of how your product works from user perspective helps you to share that vision with your team and investors. Everybody get a feeling of what your app or product will do, and what steps users will take. It’s hard to understand how important visualization of the whole process is until you get to the point to explain it to other people.
- Prioritizing Features: User Story Mapping allows you to make a “skeleton” version of your software app or product and add whichever feature you think is important. It also keeps in perspective the other features that you will introduce in the next versions. For example, a decade ago, Google had an update (which today is totally normal for us) when suggestions started to pop us as you type your keywords, and that was a great update that made the search very fast and more convenient. Before that, you had to type out your whole search quarry and then type enter and then see the result. But because many query questions are not totally formed in our heads, you had to search Google multiple times to get what you wanted, now you usually do that with just one search.
- Improved Collaboration and Communication: Huge part of the improved efficiency that the Agile model and the User Story Mapping is giving you is the inclusivity and collaboration that takes place. Everyone who is working on the project is usually part of sessions where they brainstorm ideas. Having all of this participation and exchange of ideas makes the whole process much efficient, because you get exposed to ideas and ways of doing things you have never even thought of.
- Accountability: Because User Story Mapping gives such a clear and efficient presentation of what should be done, it’s very easy to delegate then these assignments to teams, and set estimated dates of completion. The Scrum method has this detailed where you put one piece of the job, one task, previously defined with the team, and have the developers finish it in 1-4 weeks time.
There is a good overview in the video below:
How to Create a Simple User Story Map?
Creating a simple User Story Map is a great way to plan your product or app. Here’s how to do it in simple steps:
- Start with the Goal: Think about what your product is supposed to do for the user. For example, if you’re building an online store, your goal might be “Help users find and buy products easily.” Write this at the top of your map, so everyone knows what you’re aiming for.
- Add Horizontal Steps: Break down the big user goal into major steps they take. For an online store, these steps might be “Browse products,” “Add to cart,” and “Checkout.” These go across the top of your map like a timeline of actions.
- Add Vertical Details: Under each step, list smaller tasks or user actions. For example, under “Browse products,” you could include “Search by keyword,” “Filter by category,” and “View product details.” These details go down in columns under their matching step.
- Prioritize Tasks: Arrange the tasks in each column by priority. The most important ones go at the top. For example, “Search by keyword” might be more important than “Sort by price.”
- Review and Adjust: Show your map to your team. Ask if anything is missing or out of order. For example, they might suggest adding a “Save for later” option under the “Add to cart” step.
- Make an MVP User Story Map: Make a MVP Story Map that will give you only the essential steps and details to make a functioning product that you can present. Eliminate everything else, just focus on the MVP that you can show to your investors and be able to fund further your business.
Conclusion
User Story Mapping is one of those simple yet very powerful tools that you just need to have to succeed. It helps you in all stages of your website development, software development, product development or digital marketing campaign development. It puts you in the shoes of your user and forces you to look at your app or product from their perspective.
It’s good for collaboration and it gives you the option to make a MVP – Minimal Viable Product much cheaply and efficiently by prioritizing what you want to have in the first version of your app. It gives you the opportunity to add other features later, and be able to delegate easy tasks to different teams that work on the project.
If you need help with your User Story Mapping, don’t hesitate to contact us today! We have over a decade of experience in software development, marketing, branding and we are glad to help businesses with whatever problem they might have.
