Managing User Stories

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• Availability
  • Plan: All
• Roles and Permissions
  • Add/Delete: Admin, Editor 
  • Edit: Admin, Editor, Reviewer (if idea creator or assigned as owner, reviewers can also add)
  • View only: Reviewer

User stories are a way of breaking down your product specs into discrete pieces of work that are meaningful to a user.

User stories exist in ProdPad within an idea. In order to create a user story, you must first create an idea.

Add a user story

Once the idea has been created, you will find the user story tab available under the +Add section menu.

Each User Story in ProdPad can be added to the roadmap individually, allowing you to plan development for part of a larger idea instead of the entire idea (which may have grown in scope as it was being spec'd out).

Each User Story can also be pushed to development individually via one of our integrations.

Typically, user stories identify with one of your personas, outline what they need to accomplish, and the problem they need to solve, using the following format:

"As a User Persona...,
I want to do something...,
In order to solve this problem...."

The user stories section of the specification outlines the users that would be expected to use the system, what their needs and expectations are, and how they will interact with the system. Along with the User Acceptance Criteria (UAT) that can be added to each story, it's possible to make it crystal clear for your developers as they build out each piece of functionality.

Generate AI user stories

If you need help getting started with a user story - use our AI powered generator to get over the blank page. The user stories are generated using the idea's title, any existing description text, linked feedback, and details of the product linked to the idea. To use this feature, simply click the Generate AI user stories button from within the user stories tab. If there's not enough context in the idea, the button will be greyed out.

You will then have the option to select which format you would like to generate the user stories in. You can choose from Traditional, Gherkins, and Jobs To Be Done. 

Once the stories are generated, you can choose which ones you want to add to the idea, discard them, or try again.

For more information about how our AI features work, see our FAQs. This feature is currently in beta - you can share your thoughts and feedback on the functionality here. 

Move user stories to another idea

You can move user stories to another idea if needed. To do so, select the ideas using the selector box and click Move to another Idea.

When you do this, an inline menu will appear. Select Move to another idea and search for the idea by ID or title. The story will be moved and ideas will be marked as related to each other.

Duplicate User Stories

If you need to duplicate a user story, simply select the user story using the selector. On the inline menu, select the duplication icon.

Delete user stories

To delete a user story, select it and click on the bin icon to remove it.

Deletion is permanent and items cannot be recovered.