User Story Lifecycle

5 minutes 5 Questions

The lifecycle of a User Story in Scrum begins with its creation and ends with its closure which often involves several iterations. Initially, the Product Owner creates a coarse-grained User Story. As the team begins to work on it, they break it down into finer detail. Then, the Development Team est…

Guide: Understanding the User Story Lifecycle in Scrum (PSM I)

Understanding the User Story Lifecycle is a vital part of Scrum, an agile framework commonly used in project management.

Why it is important:
User Stories guide the team in creating product increments. They help streamline work and facilitate communication by breaking product requirements down into manageable, understandable pieces. Scrum teams live by User Stories as they guide the 'what' of the work that needs to be done.

What it is:
A User Story Lifecycle comprises of four stages:

Ready: User story meets 'definition of ready', clearly stating what the user wants.
In Progress: Development team is currently working on the User story.
Testing: User story is tested against acceptance criteria.
Done: It meets 'definition of done', has been accepted by the Product Owner.

Each stage is important and requires careful monitoring and control.

How it works:
The Product Owner prioritizes User Stories in the Product Backlog. The Scrum team then selects from the top, based on how much they can commit to in one Sprint. If a User Story is too large, it is broken down further. It moves between stages throughout the Sprint and is ideally in the 'Done' stage at the end.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on User Story Lifecycle:

Understand and clearly define each stage of the lifecycle.
Know who is responsible at each stage (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team).
Understand how User Stories move from one stage to another.
Know the role of a User Story in Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, and Sprint Retrospective.

Remember, understanding these concepts thoroughly is key to passing Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) examination.

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PSM I - User Story Lifecycle Example Questions

Test your knowledge of User Story Lifecycle

Question 1

The product owner proposes a new user story in the middle of the sprint. As a Scrum Master, how would you handle this situation?

Reject the story immediately Suggest the Product Owner to wait until the sell-off sprint Add the story to the ongoing sprint Discuss it with the Product Owner and devise a plan to consider it in the next sprint planning

Correct Answer: Discuss it with the Product Owner and devise a plan to consider it in the next sprint planning

The Scrum framework does not encourage changing the Scrum Sprint contents in the middle of it. Any new user story or feature should be discussed in the upcoming Sprint planning meeting. This is to maintain the team's focus and stability throughout the ongoing sprint. Hence, 'Discuss it with the Product Owner and devise a plan to consider it in the next sprint planning' is the best answer.****On the other hand, 'Reject the story immediately' is incorrect as it eliminates the possibility of discussing its potential benefits and impacts. 'Add the story to the ongoing sprint' is incorrect as it undermines the team's commitment and can potentially disrupt the sprint's progress. Lastly, 'Suggest the Product Owner to wait until the sell-off sprint' is also incorrect because it's not a standard practice in Scrum and sell-off sprints are not part of the Scrum framework.

Question 2

A user story has not cleared the definition of done stage in the current sprint, what should be the successive step?

Break down the user story into smaller tasks and distribute them across the current sprint without adjusting the sprint goal, aiming to integrate them stealthily. Assign the user story to the most experienced team member to ensure its completion outside the sprint scope. The user story should be revisited by the team, refined if necessary, and reprioritized in the product backlog. Increase the velocity for the next sprint to ensure the story and additional new stories are completed.

Correct Answer: The user story should be revisited by the team, refined if necessary, and reprioritized in the product backlog.

In Scrum, if a user story does not meet the Definition of Done (DoD) by the end of the sprint, it should be reevaluated during the sprint review. The team, along with the product owner, can decide to refine and reprioritize the story for future sprints based on its importance and urgency. Increasing velocity arbitrarily, assigning work outside the collaborative team structure, or attempting to bypass the established sprint process violates the fundamental principles of Scrum, which emphasize transparency, inspection, and adaptation.

Question 3

You have just concluded a sprint in which a user story was completed, but the customer wants to make a slight adjustment. What would be Scrum's best approach to handle this?

Analyze the feasibility of the requested change with the development team and, based on their input, decide if a new sprint should be initiated specifically for this adjustment. This approach should involve a detailed discussion on the scope and impact of the change, including a reassessment of sprint goals and a re-estimation of tasks to ensure that the team has enough bandwidth to accommodate this new requirement without compromising the quality and delivery timeline of the project. Consider the adjustment as a minor tweak and advise the development team to implement it without formal backlog prioritization. Re-evaluate the completed user story during the sprint review and, if necessary, create a new user story for the adjustment to be prioritized in the product backlog. Immediately start working on the requested changes during the current sprint, allocating additional resources if necessary.

Correct Answer: Re-evaluate the completed user story during the sprint review and, if necessary, create a new user story for the adjustment to be prioritized in the product backlog.

In Scrum, once a user story is completed and the sprint has ended, any new changes or adjustments requested by the customer should be treated as new work. This new work needs to be thoroughly evaluated and prioritized in the product backlog, not immediately acted upon. This ensures that the process remains systematic and that the priorities defined in the product backlog guide the work undertaken by the team. Immediate actions, adjustments without formal prioritization, or starting a new sprint specifically for such changes go against Scrum principles of backlog management and iterative development.

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