These are the worst stories ever

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As I reentered the world of software development, I kept hearing about "user stories," and wondering what these were. Apparently, some new way of having users describe the software they needed had been developed: it was on my to-do list find out what this was.

I am currently reading a book about agile development, and came across a few of these "user stories." Here is what I found:

  • Customers can view the portal landing page in browser
  • Customer can create draft mortgage application
  • Customer can get list of existing mortgages
Wow, those sure are dramatic "stories." They are what, back in the Middle Ages, we would have called "informal requirements."

What has been gained by calling them "stories" eludes me.

Comments

  1. Ken B7:20 PM

    I can answer! Value is delivered to the end user, so to focus on value-add software should be user-centric.

    At this point you probably want to beat me with a dead carp. I don't blame you. But just wait and see: you will be told something just like that, but longer and vaguer. Just wait.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nathan Conroy8:14 PM

    Informal requirements? No, no. The Middle Ages had usury.

    ReplyDelete

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