How to write user stories using AI?

In the previous article (Product Strategy is different from Roadmap) we talked about the difference between product strategy and roadmap and in this article, we are going to talk about how to use the AI in your favor to write user stories.

AI has come to support us in our daily work and for a product owner this is no different, especially when in some projects the PO is the servant leader for the team and gets responsibilities from the Scrum Master role for exemple. When this professional has these two roles it is hard to keep quality on the requirements ( I said this from my own experience) and AI helps a lot to bring velocity and quality to the requirements.

What is a User Story?

According to Atlassian:

Summary:?A user story is an informal, general explanation of a software feature written from the perspective of the end user. Its purpose is to articulate how a software feature will provide value to the customer.

A User Story typically follows this format:

"As a [type of user], I want [some goal] so that [some reason]."

As a [type of user]: This specifies who the user is. It could be a specific role, persona, or type of user who will benefit from the feature.

I want [some goal]: This describes what the user wants to achieve or the functionality they desire.

So that [some reason]: This explains the purpose or the benefit the user expects from achieving the goal.

User Stories are written in plain language to avoid technical jargon, and serve as a communication tool between stakeholders, facilitating a shared understanding of project objectives. The Product Owners use the User Stories to articulate user needs and drive value delivery. These stories are part of a backlog of tasks or features, evolving through refinement as development progresses.

To optimize the work I recommend using AI for:

Gather Requirements: AI can analyze stakeholder feedback, streamline data collection, and translate insights into actionable user stories.

Structure User Stories: AI provides templates, suggests formats, and ensures coherence across user story documentation.

Review and Refine: AI offers suggestions for improvement, facilitates collaboration, and ensures accuracy in user story documentation.

Example in practice

I have a request from my stakeholders that confidentiality is important for our product and we cannot show who is the customer in our assignments platform that we are creating, so I ask CHATGPT very briefly to help me:

Now, what I have to do is use the relevant information that CHATGPT brings to my scenario, so the version that I am going to use for my team is:

As a consultant manager, I want to ensure that customer logos and names remain confidential for the public so that sensitive information is protected and not disclosed without authorization.

Acceptance Criteria:

1. Testing procedures should include validation checks to confirm that customer logos and names are not exposed in public environments.
2. Before releasing any updates or new features, a review process should be conducted to ensure compliance with confidentiality requirements.

As you can see I just left the information that is important to me and changed to the correct persona.

Important Considerations: Safeguarding Data Privacy

While using AI is important to be aware to:

• Avoid sharing sensitive company information with AI platforms.
• Maintain data privacy and confidentiality throughout the user story management process.

Conclusion

To improve the process of gathering, structuring, prioritizing, and refining requirements and driving better outcomes for the projects AI comes for help and I strongly recommend all professionals to use it.

And you PO, how are you working with AI?

References

https://www.atlassian.com/agile/project-management/user-stories

https://openai.com/