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.