The Why?
Describe the purpose of the session and the outcome it will yield for a team.
Have you heard of a Story Mapping Session? It's when a team gets together to make a visual representation of the user journey and what features the product needs.
Basically, it helps the team understand the user's point of view, pick which features are most important to them, and make a plan that works for the user's journey. With story mapping, teams can find the most crucial product features and break them down into smaller, easier-to-handle parts. It's a pretty useful technique!
Template
https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVMYyiEwo=/
Participants
Who from a product team should attend this type of session?
- Product Manager -
Lead - Facilitates the discussion and ensures that the user journey and product features align with the business goals and strategy.
- Developers - Provide technical insights into the feasibility of implementing the user stories of the product featured.
- Designers - Provide the user experience and user interface of the product featured.
Cadence
What is a good cadence for planning this session? Or what event should trigger a team to plan this type of session?
- The cadence of a user story mapping session depends on the complexity of the product, team size, and development speed.
- A story mapping session is typically conducted at the beginning of a new product development cycle or when significant changes or updates are made.
- Some teams may conduct story mapping sessions more frequently, such as every sprint or every quarter. Smaller or less complex projects may only require one story mapping session at the beginning of the project.
Steps to conduct this type of session
Explain the different steps to conduct this session, from planning to executing and following up.
- Define the user journey - Identify the main steps or stages of the user's journey and list them in chronological order.
- Identify user activities - Within each stage of the user's journey, identify the specific activities that the user needs to perform to achieve their goals.