nw-user-story-mapping

User Story Mapping

Create story maps that organize user stories spatially by activity and priority, then slice releases by outcome impact. Reference: Jeff Patton, "User Story Mapping" (2014). Integrates outcome-based prioritization from Gothelf/Seiden and riskiest-assumption-first from Maurya.

Story Map Anatomy

| Element | Position | Purpose |

|---------|----------|---------|

| Backbone | Top row, left-to-right | User activities in chronological order -- the spine of the journey |

| Ribs | Columns under each activity | User tasks broken down vertically by detail and priority |

| Walking Skeleton | Horizontal line across all activities | Thinnest possible end-to-end working flow. Not an MVP -- it is the minimum slice that connects ALL activities |

| Release Slices | Horizontal bands below skeleton | Coherent groups of stories, each adding incremental value tied to a specific outcome |

Visual structure:

Activity A    Activity B    Activity C    Activity D
-----------   -----------   -----------   -----------
Task A.1      Task B.1      Task C.1      Task D.1     <- Walking Skeleton
...........   ...........   ...........   ...........   <- skeleton line
Task A.2      Task B.2      Task C.2      Task D.2     <- Release 1
Task A.3      Task B.3                                  <- Release 1
              Task B.4      Task C.3      Task D.3     <- Release 2

Building the Map

Step 1: Frame the journey

Identify the user persona and their end-to-end goal. One map per persona-goal pair.

Step 2: Map the backbone

Write the big activities left-to-right in chronological order. These are verb phrases: "Search products", "Compare options", "Complete purchase". Aim for 4-8 activities.

Step 3: Fill the ribs

Under each activity, list the tasks that support it. Write as short action phrases (user behaviors). Place more detail and less critical tasks lower.

Step 4: Prioritize vertically

Reorder tasks within each column: most critical at top, nice-to-have at bottom. Ask: "Which task is essential for this activity to work at all?"

Step 5: Draw the walking skeleton

Draw a horizontal line that captures exactly one task from each activity -- the thinnest slice that delivers end-to-end flow. Every activity must be represented. If an activity has no task above the line, the skeleton is incomplete.

Step 6: Slice into releases by outcome

Group remaining tasks into horizontal bands. Each band targets a specific outcome KPI. Name each release by the outcome it achieves, not the features it contains.

Outcome-Based Prioritization

Prioritize releases by outcome impact, not feature completeness. Each release slice targets a specific measurable behavior change.

Prioritization Formula

Value (outcome impact) x Urgency (time-sensitivity) / Effort (complexity) = Priority Score

Where (1-5 scale):

• Value (1-5) = outcome impact. 5 = moves north-star KPI significantly. 1 = marginal improvement. In Phase 2.5, estimate from discovery insights; refine in Phase 4 after outcome-kpis.md exists.
• Urgency (1-5) = time-sensitivity. 5 = time-critical or derisks fatal assumption. 1 = evergreen, no deadline.
• Effort (1-5) = complexity. 5 = many tasks, cross-cutting, unknowns. 1 = single task, well-understood.
• Tie-breaking: Walking Skeleton > Riskiest Assumption > Highest Value.

Riskiest Assumption First

From Running Lean (Maurya): validate what could kill the product before optimizing what improves it.

| Priority | What to validate | Why |

|----------|-----------------|-----|

| 1st | Walking skeleton | Does the end-to-end flow work at all? |

| 2nd | Release targeting riskiest assumption | Could this assumption kill the product? |

| 3rd | Release targeting highest-value outcome | Which behavior change drives the most impact? |

| 4th+ | Remaining releases by Value x Urgency / Effort | Incremental value delivery |

Connecting to Outcomes

Each release slice maps to the logic model chain (Gothelf/Seiden):

Release Slice -> Output (features built)
             -> Outcome (behavior change: [Who] [Does what] [By how much])
             -> Impact (business KPI moved)

Story Map Template (story-map.md)

# Story Map: {feature-name}

## User: {persona}
## Goal: {what they're trying to accomplish}

## Backbone

| Activity 1 | Activity 2 | Activity 3 | Activity N |
|------------|------------|------------|------------|
| Task 1.1   | Task 2.1   | Task 3.1   | Task N.1   |
| Task 1.2   | Task 2.2   | Task 3.2   |            |
|            | Task 2.3   |            |            |

---

### Walking Skeleton
{List the minimum tasks from each activity that form the thinnest end-to-end slice}

### Release 1: {outcome target}
{Tasks included, outcome KPI targeted, rationale}

### Release 2: {outcome target}
{Tasks included, outcome KPI targeted, rationale}

Prioritization Template (prioritization.md)

# Prioritization: {feature-name}

## Release Priority

| Priority | Release | Target Outcome | KPI | Rationale |
|----------|---------|---------------|-----|-----------|
| 1 | Walking Skeleton | End-to-end flow works | {KPI} | Validates core assumption |
| 2 | {name} | {outcome} | {KPI} | {why this order} |

## Backlog Suggestions

| Story | Release | Priority | Outcome Link | Dependencies |
|-------|---------|----------|-------------|--------------|
| US-01 | WS | P1 | {KPI-1} | None |
| US-02 | R1 | P2 | {KPI-2} | US-01 |

> **Note**: In Phase 2.5, stories are task-level placeholders (e.g., "Search by category").
> Story IDs (US-01) are assigned in Phase 4 (Requirements). Revisit this table after Phase 4.

Anti-Patterns

| Anti-Pattern | Problem | Fix |

|-------------|---------|-----|

| Feature-first slicing | Release 1 = all of Feature A, Release 2 = all of Feature B. No end-to-end value until late. | Slice ACROSS features by outcome. Each release touches multiple activities. |

| No walking skeleton | Going deep on one activity before connecting end-to-end. Late integration risk. | Draw the skeleton first. One task per activity, thinnest possible. |

| Fat walking skeleton | Too many stories crammed into the skeleton. Defeats the purpose. | Skeleton = exactly the minimum to make the flow work. Move extras to Release 1. |

| Effort-based priority | Ordering by "easy first" instead of outcome impact. Delivers low-value features early. | Prioritize by Value x Urgency / Effort. Easy-but-low-value stories go to later releases. |

| Orphan stories | Stories with no outcome link. No measurable behavior change targeted. | Every story traces to an outcome KPI. If it cannot, question its value. |

| Activity gaps | Some activities have no tasks in a release slice. Breaks end-to-end coherence. | Walking skeleton covers all activities. Later releases may skip activities only if those are already sufficient. |