How to write Effective User Stories

User stories are made up of three different elements: the user, the action they will take, and the benefit to them. These elements might have a few different formats, but the most common is

"As a <user role>, I want this <action> so that I can get this <value>."

Each user story should meet six different criteria, represented by the acronym I.N.V.E.S.T., or invest.

- I, for independent: the story should be able to be started and finished by itself. It's not dependent on another story to finish it. The N stands for negotiable: there's room for negotiation and discussion about this item.

- The V is for valuable: this means that completing the user story has to deliver value.

- E is for estimable: our Definition of Done must be clear so that the team can give each user story an estimate.

- The S is for small: each user story needs to be able to fit within a planned Sprint. If that user story is too big, it should be broken down into smaller stories. Stories that are a low priority on the Backlog can stay big until they become a priority for an upcoming Sprint.

- Finally, the T is testable: a test can be written to check and make sure that it meets the acceptance criteria.

Epic, which simply represents a group or collection of user stories.

epics are just larger user stories that are there to help organize the project.