<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none;" alt="" src="https://px.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=1110556&amp;fmt=gif">
Skip to content
    December 2, 2022

    Ambiguous User Story? Perhaps It's Time to Model

    What Are the Challenges of an Ambiguous Model?

    User stories are the primary construct for capturing product functionality, but they are typically not well-suited to describing the relationship between different features and functional workflows. This blog will first examine the possible effects of ambiguous user stories, then explore an alternative solution that will create more clarity.

    ESD_FY23_Academy-Blog.Ambiguous User Story - Perhaps Its Time to Model.Figure 3

    Too often, developers don’t know if they have delivered what the customer wanted until reaching user acceptance testing (UAT). At this stage, ambiguous or misunderstood user stories can be the root cause of rework and delays. Unless all stakeholders involved in the process of planning, design, development, and testing share a common understanding of the intended results, a project is at risk of delay or even failure.

    Agile project teams will typically address ambiguity during planning, standups, or ad hoc conversations. In Agile development projects, it can be extremely helpful to remove ambiguity earlier before a developer writes the first line of code. The cost of rework increases significantly in later phases of development.

    In waterfall and iterative development approaches, it is even more important to remove ambiguity as early as possible. The less ambiguity you have at the outset, the more likely you’ll deliver what the business wants with higher quality and velocity.

    What Are the Benefits of Modeling?

    User story models help validate functionality, elicit user feedback on requirements, and provide a framework to determine development techniques. Most importantly, models provide clarity and remove ambiguity for all application stakeholders. Below is a list of benefits that can be derived from having a user story model: ESD_FY23_Academy-Blog.Ambiguous User Story - Perhaps Its Time to Model.Figure 1

    • Allows visualization of the entire story.
    • Stakeholders are able to spot gaps in the story.
    • Helps in prioritization of defining a minimal viable product.
    • Easier to identify the order of development.
    • Increases understanding of each feature.
    • Avoids wasting time and development cycles.
    • Facilitates better conversation between team members.
    • Eliminates ambiguity and uncertainty and clarifies the requirements.

    It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. That can literally be true when a user story has complex application requirements and logic. Providing a visual representation reduces rework and delivers what the business needs.

    User Story Modeling Best Practices

    User story models are often seen as an unnecessary step in an Agile development process. They can, however, significantly reduce rework efforts by delivering the right solution faster and with better quality. Let's look at some of the best practices for user story modeling.

    Build The Model Collaboratively

    One of the goals of user story modeling is to create a shared understanding of the desired product functionality. It is important to involve all stakeholders in the process of creating the model.

    Keep Focus on This Story

    Focus on this specific user story. Don’t include functional references to other user stories or include unnecessary information.

    Try to Keep It Simple

    User stories can be loaded with complex requirements. Try to model individual paths separately. Be careful with dependencies on other requirements.

    Use Electronic ToolsESD_FY23_Academy-Blog.Ambiguous User Story - Perhaps Its Time to Model.Figure 2

    In person collaboration is extremely difficult in a post-Covid-19 world. Electronic tools allow for collaboration and versioning. Remember: the user story may change over time.

    Additionally, electronic tools may allow you to generate content such as tasks, test data, or test cases out of the model.

    Model User Story Changes

    Many times, you’ll work on a user story that results in a change to an existing application. The user story model may not exist. Model the change and the existing portion of the model. Over time, it will grow to near completion.

    Summary

    User story modeling can create a shared understanding of the desired product functionality. Furthermore, working collaboratively with all stakeholders gives everyone an understating of the desired outcome.

    It may feel like an unnecessary step that can slow you down, but sometimes you have to “slow down” to speed up.

    Matt Busch

    Matt Busch is a thought leader in DevOps, Continuous Delivery, Continuous Testing and Application Life-cycle Management (ALM). Matt is currently a Senior Manager for the DevOps and AIOps business unit at Broadcom, where he is responsible for a team innovating DevOps solutions using Broadcom's industry leading...

    Other Resources You might be interested In

    icon
    Blog September 2, 2025

    Your Network Disaster Recovery Plan is Only as Good as its Execution

    This post examines how network configuration management (NCM) plays an essential role in the execution of your disaster recovery plan (DRP).

    icon
    Office Hours August 29, 2025

    Rally Office Hours: August 21, 2025

    See how you can use AI to create a custom HTML widget in Rally, then follow the weekly Q&A session with Rally product experts.

    icon
    Blog August 22, 2025

    Handling Incomplete User Stories at the End of an Iteration

    When a team reaches the end of an iteration, some user stories may not be completed. This post details causes and options for managing these scenarios.

    icon
    Blog August 20, 2025

    What’s Hiding in Your Wiring Closets?

    See why you must move from periodic audits to a state of perpetual awareness. Track every change, validate it against policy, and understand its impact.

    icon
    Blog August 15, 2025

    All Network Monitoring Tools Are Created Equal, Right?

    See how observability platforms provide a unified view across multi-vendor environments and correlate network configuration changes with performance issues.

    icon
    Blog August 15, 2025

    Scale Observability, Streamline Operations with AppNeta Monitoring Policies

    This post reveals how, with AppNeta’s monitoring policies, you can leverage a powerful framework for scalable, flexible, and accurate network observability.

    icon
    Course August 14, 2025

    AppNeta: Current Network Violation Map Dashboard

    Learn how to configure and use the Current Network Violation Map dashboard in AppNeta to identify geographic regions impacted by WAN performance issues.

    icon
    Course August 14, 2025

    AppNeta On-Prem: Minimize Unplanned Downtime

    Learn how to configure the AppNeta On-Prem environment following best practices for high availability and disaster recovery to maintain service continuity and minimize unplanned downtime.

    icon
    Office Hours August 12, 2025

    Rally Office Hours: August 7, 2025

    Get tips on how to use the Capacity Planning feature in Rally, then follow the weekly Q&A session with Rally product experts.