User Story
A user story is a short, structured description of a software feature from the perspective of the end user, explaining who wants it, what they want, and why.
In depth
User stories follow the format: 'As a [role], I want to [action], so that [benefit].'
User stories are intentionally brief — they're conversation starters, not full specifications. The acceptance criteria below each story are what define 'done.'
Good user stories are INVEST: - Independent: can be developed separately - Negotiable: details can change through discussion - Valuable: delivers value to a user or stakeholder - Estimable: team can estimate the effort - Small: fits in one sprint - Testable: acceptance criteria can be verified
Epics are larger user stories that get broken into smaller ones. A typical MVP has 30–80 user stories across 5–10 epics.
Real example
As a registered user, I want to reset my password via email, so that I don't get locked out of my account if I forget it. Acceptance criteria: - Reset email sent within 30 seconds - Link expires after 1 hour - New password requires minimum 8 characters - Old password is immediately invalidated - Confirmation message shown after successful reset
Tools & calculators
Related terms
MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the simplest version of a product that can be released to early users to validate core assumptions, gather feedback, and begin learning — with the minimum amount of effort and cost.
PRD (Product Requirements Document)
A Product Requirements Document (PRD) is a document that describes what a product or feature should do — the problem it solves, who it's for, and what functionality it needs — before development begins.
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