How can you use user story mapping to identify dependencies?

Dependency is a state where you cannot proceed with the task/work you have unless some other task/work is completed. It is important to identify dependencies in order to keep track of the work and timeline.

Use user story mapping to identify dependencies by visualizing the sequence of user stories and their relationships. As you map out the user journey, observe where one user story relies on the completion of another. This visual representation helps teams recognize dependencies between stories and prioritize them accordingly. Discuss dependencies during planning sessions to mitigate potential bottlenecks and ensure a more seamless development process. User story mapping facilitates a holistic view of the project, aiding in the identification and management of dependencies for more effective planning and execution.

In software engineering, a dependency is a construct or object that another construct or object relies upon. Dependencies are important because they allow software components to be reused and to be developed independently. There are two main types of dependencies: * **Compile-time dependencies:** These are dependencies that are required to compile a program. * **Runtime dependencies:** These are dependencies that are required to run a program. Dependencies can be declared in a variety of ways, depending on the programming language and development environment. Dependency management is important because it helps to ensure that software components are compatible with each other.

Dependencies are when one cannot proceed with designated till another task is completed. They are highly important as they can directly impact the quality and timelines and if missed can lead to delays and conflicts.

Arrange the user stories on a horizontal board, starting with the most important ones at the top. Group them into vertical columns based on their themes or functionality areas. This will help you to see how they are related to each other and identify any dependencies. As you map the stories, look for any dependencies between them. These could be functional dependencies (where one story cannot be completed without another) or non-functional dependencies (where two stories need to be completed together). Mark these dependencies on the board using arrows or other visual cues. Ideally ToDo, Development,Test, Acceptance which simplifies most areas on how the user story flow is happening .

User story maps provide a visual overview of the entire product or project, making it easier to understand the flow of user interactions and features. User stories are arranged in a sequential order from left to right, representing the progression of user activities or features. As you map out user stories, you naturally identify relationships and dependencies between them. For example, one story might depend on the completion of another.

As per my experience, team members usually don't see the bigger picture and are confined only to their individual user stories. In this process team fails to identify dependencies and when they become aware of it, the sprint is already at the verge of completion. Its highly important that the dependencies are identified in sprint planning meeting itself by user story mapping techniques (grouping them into correlated functionalities)so that quality and timelines are not impacted.

All visual tools are of great help to improve our understanding of the project, I think that has been lost a bit with Scrum, in the whirlwind of delivering. It is worth investing time to study user stories better, because later it may be too late.

The only way to manage dependencies is to ensure that team studies user stories in an elaborative way. Clearer the user story is, better and easy it is for the team to identify and manage dependencies.

Early identification can also be done in the PI planning or big room planning , Have a breakout session discuss with respective team and SM "on the dependency (data or UI or API) one story has with other user story " importantly the FEATURE and ensure this is transparently discussed with PO/Business while drafting the PI plan, so that other stories are prioritized over the dependent stories.

Some other ways to help you in the user stories are : 1. Use a unique ID if your organization uses a tool such as Jira for easier traceability. 2. Always remember that your user story is part of an Epic (Parent) -> story or alternatively, Epic -> Feature -> Story 3. DO NOT FORGET THE MAIN STRUCTURE especially when you are just getting started, i.e. "As a <user>, I want to <goal>, so that I <benefit/end result>" 4. An alternative to the above is to use "Awkward Stories", an example is : "As a <System> , As a <Config> ....., As a <Product Setup> ....., As a <Developer> ..... , As a <Monitoring System> ....." 5. Lastly, keep it simple but do not be afraid of adding a few more details and avoid creating paragraphs of user stories.