What is User Stories And Backlogs

While playing baseball or softball, did you ever get a chance to play from outfield position? The primary responsibility of an outfielder is catching pop flies.

When you hear the crack of the bat, there’s a moment of panic as you try to figure out where the ball is headed. And let say you are a young player, your first instinct will always be to run forward, which usually leads to the ball flying over their head and the batter advancing several bases.

The only mantra from the coach to the outfielders when a player plays softball is, “Your first step should always be back!”. The coach asks the outfielders to take a quick step back, gauge the ball’s trajectory and then choose their approach.

Now you might be wondering what is the connection of above paragraph with user stories. It has, I will explain to you how...

Our backlogs are filled with hundreds of "pop flies"(a high fly ball hit to the infield or immediately beyond it that can easily be caught before reaching). So, just like the coach suggested in the above game, our first step should always be back in order to build better stories. We should take a step back, check our sources and analyze the big picture before we decide how to proceed.

Where Do All These 'Pop Flies' Come From?

When the backlog items come flying at you, it’s important to take a step back and figure out where they are coming from. You need to analyze if your stakeholders are like methodical ace pitchers or are they wild and erratic? Also, did the product owner swing at anything or did they evaluate each pitch to see if it’s worth a swing?

Usually, you will find out backlogs comprises of a random mix of enhancement requests, defects, and ideas submitted by a random mix of stakeholders. So, if BAs work the backlogs without discovery and analysis, there is a definite chance for the team to struggle. Apart from that, delivery will be slow, teams will build the wrong things and customers will be frustrated. And eventually, there will be a never-ending list of backlogs consisting of more requests and missed requirements.

Existing backlogs need to be aligned to strategic priorities. BAs need to step back and look at how backlog items connect and how they align with organizational goals. Which means analyzing and converting these submitted backlog ideas into better user stories so that stakeholders and end users get what they really need versus what they think they need.

So all in all this is the fact that BAs can’t skip analysis. This critical thinking time is where BAs really boost the value they add or provide to a project.

Teams are much more likely to get the win when BAs take a step back, create engaging discovery activities and make time for analysis.