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1 | 1 | # Story |
2 | 2 |
|
| 3 | +<!--summary-start--> |
| 4 | +_A structured business requirement expressed in plain language that |
| 5 | +defines what a Persona needs to accomplish within a Use Case_ |
| 6 | +<!--summary-end--> |
| 7 | + |
3 | 8 | === "Business & Management Audience" |
4 | 9 |
|
5 | | - A Story --- in the context of a [Use Case](use-case.md) in the |
6 | | - [Use Case Tree](use-case-tree.md) --- defines a business requirement. |
7 | | - |
8 | | - A business user could specify a requirement as follows: |
9 | | - |
10 | | - - _As the Chief Risk Officer, I need to know our current Risk Position against party B, so that I can Assess the Risk_ |
11 | | - - _As an Auditor, I need to get a list of all current board members of legal entity X, so that I can Verify Stakeholders_ |
12 | | - - _As an Employee, I need to get a list of all my colleagues in my unit, so that I Know my Colleagues_ |
13 | | - - _As a customer, I need to get a list of all products, so that I can make a product selection_ |
14 | | - |
15 | | - And so forth. That's all we ask in the early phases of a given use case. |
16 | | - |
| 10 | + ## What Is a Story? |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | + A **Story** — in the context of a [Use Case](use-case.md) in the |
| 13 | + [Use Case Tree](use-case-tree.md) — defines a business |
| 14 | + requirement. |
| 15 | + It captures what someone needs to accomplish, expressed in their |
| 16 | + own language. |
| 17 | + |
| 18 | + ## Story Structure |
| 19 | + |
| 20 | + Stories follow a simple, structured format that captures three |
| 21 | + essential elements: |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | + - **Who** — The [Persona](persona.md) who needs this capability |
| 24 | + (e.g., "As the Chief Risk Officer...") |
| 25 | + - **What** — What they need to do or know (e.g., "...I need to |
| 26 | + know our current Risk Position...") |
| 27 | + - **Why** — The business [Outcome](outcome.md) or purpose (e.g., |
| 28 | + "...so that I can Assess the Risk") |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | + !!! tip "Start simple" |
| 31 | + |
| 32 | + In the early phases of a use case, we only ask for these |
| 33 | + three elements. |
| 34 | + Don't worry about how it will be implemented — that comes |
| 35 | + later. |
| 36 | + |
| 37 | + ## Examples |
| 38 | + |
| 39 | + A business user could specify requirements as follows: |
| 40 | + |
| 41 | + - _As the Chief Risk Officer, I need to know our current Risk |
| 42 | + Position against party B, so that I can Assess the Risk_ |
| 43 | + - _As an Auditor, I need to get a list of all current board |
| 44 | + members of legal entity X, so that I can Verify Stakeholders_ |
| 45 | + - _As an Employee, I need to get a list of all my colleagues in |
| 46 | + my unit, so that I Know my Colleagues_ |
| 47 | + - _As a customer, I need to get a list of all products, so that |
| 48 | + I can make a product selection_ |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | + And so forth. |
| 51 | + That's all we ask in the early phases of a given use case. |
| 52 | + |
| 53 | + ## Why Stories Matter |
| 54 | + |
| 55 | + Stories provide a bridge between business needs and technical |
| 56 | + implementation. |
| 57 | + They ensure that: |
| 58 | + |
| 59 | + - **Business language is preserved** — Requirements are captured |
| 60 | + in terms the business understands |
| 61 | + - **Focus stays on outcomes** — We understand the "why" behind |
| 62 | + each requirement |
| 63 | + - **Everyone is aligned** — Business, data, and technology |
| 64 | + teams share a common understanding of what needs to be |
| 65 | + delivered |
| 66 | + |
17 | 67 |
|
18 | 68 | === "Data & Tech Audience" |
19 | 69 |
|
20 | | - "User Stories" start out as plain English sentences that, as the name suggests, come from the user. |
21 | | - In other words, "the Business" or "the Customer", the end user of a system or application, is |
22 | | - responsible for explaining to the people who need to deliver that system what the system is supposed to do. |
23 | | - |
24 | | - Makes sense right? Unfortunately, it's usually not that simple. |
25 | | - All kinds of other factors come into play that have nothing to do with specifying what the user |
26 | | - _really_ wants such as design, architecture, existing systems, budgets, time, regulations, policies |
27 | | - and technical capabilities. |
28 | | - |
29 | | - However, it is a good thing to at least capture the "real" wishes of the user without having to consider all of |
30 | | - those other aspects. |
31 | | - Where the challenge is to ask the user to step out of their normal day-to-day practices and comfort zone and to |
32 | | - think ahead in a way that is not restricted by all the daily hurdles and practicalities. |
33 | | - This method proposes to use "Structured Business User Stories" to achieve many things such as: |
34 | | - |
35 | | - * have a more strategic view on which functionality is ^^really^^ required |
36 | | - * allow to see "the disconnect" or "the gap" between what's required and what is currently available, |
37 | | - delivered and deliverable |
38 | | - * avoid "tunnel thinking" where everyone, especially also "the business" itself, makes all kinds of |
39 | | - assumptions that may or may not be true and could severely diminish creativity. |
40 | | - * create a clear separation of concerns: the business specifies what they need but leaves it to the |
41 | | - data and technology people to work out how they can deliver it. |
42 | | - So no more "screen designs" (that comes later) or "schema's" that are used as |
43 | | - "functional specification". |
44 | | - We need to be able to go deeper, to the core questions about **"what do you ^^really^^ need?"** |
45 | | - (and forget about the "How" for a minute). |
46 | | - * have clear testable specifications of required functionality for the whole life-cycle of a given |
47 | | - user story.<br/> |
48 | | - As long as people need a given story to be implemented, it will continuously be tested "end-to-end", |
49 | | - from inception all the way to production, not only before deployment into production but actually |
50 | | - also in production itself. |
51 | | - The EKG knows about "its Stories" and continuously tests them, it therefore knows about its own |
52 | | - "functional health" and can detect whenever something changes (code, ontologies, ETL, new policies) |
53 | | - whether it can still deliver all functionality |
54 | | - |
55 | | - Here's a diagram that illustrates how we can break up a user story in some interesting components that |
56 | | - we can link to other data structures in the Knowledge Graph such as a taxonomy of all ["Personas"](persona.md) |
57 | | - |
58 | | - <figure markdown> |
59 | | - TODO |
60 | | - </figure> |
61 | | - |
62 | | - Here's one example of a User Story, more examples will follow later: |
63 | | - |
64 | | - <figure markdown> |
65 | | - TODO |
66 | | - </figure> |
67 | | - |
68 | | - |
| 70 | + ## What Is a Story in the EKG Method? |
| 71 | + |
| 72 | + "User Stories" start out as plain English sentences that, as the |
| 73 | + name suggests, come from the user. |
| 74 | + In other words, "the Business" or "the Customer" — the end user |
| 75 | + of a system or application — is responsible for explaining to |
| 76 | + the people who need to deliver that system what the system is |
| 77 | + supposed to do. |
| 78 | + |
| 79 | + Makes sense, right? |
| 80 | + Unfortunately, it's usually not that simple. |
| 81 | + All kinds of other factors come into play that have nothing to |
| 82 | + do with specifying what the user _really_ wants, such as design, |
| 83 | + architecture, existing systems, budgets, time, regulations, |
| 84 | + policies, and technical capabilities. |
| 85 | + |
| 86 | + ## The Challenge |
| 87 | + |
| 88 | + However, it is a good thing to at least capture the "real" |
| 89 | + wishes of the user without having to consider all of those other |
| 90 | + aspects. |
| 91 | + The challenge is to ask the user to step out of their normal |
| 92 | + day-to-day practices and comfort zone and to think ahead in a |
| 93 | + way that is not restricted by all the daily hurdles and |
| 94 | + practicalities. |
| 95 | + |
| 96 | + ## Structured Business User Stories |
| 97 | + |
| 98 | + This method proposes to use "Structured Business User Stories" |
| 99 | + to achieve many things: |
| 100 | + |
| 101 | + ### Strategic Focus |
| 102 | + |
| 103 | + Have a more strategic view on which functionality is **really** |
| 104 | + required. |
| 105 | + By focusing on business outcomes rather than implementation |
| 106 | + details, we can identify what truly matters. |
| 107 | + |
| 108 | + ### Gap Analysis |
| 109 | + |
| 110 | + Allow seeing "the disconnect" or "the gap" between what's |
| 111 | + required and what is currently available, delivered, and |
| 112 | + deliverable. |
| 113 | + This helps prioritize work and identify areas where new |
| 114 | + capabilities are needed. |
| 115 | + |
| 116 | + ### Avoid Tunnel Thinking |
| 117 | + |
| 118 | + Avoid "tunnel thinking" where everyone, especially "the business" |
| 119 | + itself, makes all kinds of assumptions that may or may not be true |
| 120 | + and could severely diminish creativity. |
| 121 | + Stories encourage thinking beyond current constraints. |
| 122 | + |
| 123 | + ### Separation of Concerns |
| 124 | + |
| 125 | + Create a clear separation of concerns: the business specifies what |
| 126 | + they need but leaves it to the data and technology people to |
| 127 | + work out how they can deliver it. |
| 128 | + So no more "screen designs" (that comes later) or "schemas" that |
| 129 | + are used as "functional specification". |
| 130 | + We need to be able to go deeper, to the core questions about |
| 131 | + **"what do you really need?"** (and forget about the "How" for a |
| 132 | + minute). |
| 133 | + |
| 134 | + ### Testable Specifications |
| 135 | + |
| 136 | + Have clear testable specifications of required functionality for |
| 137 | + the whole lifecycle of a given user story. |
| 138 | + As long as people need a given story to be implemented, it will |
| 139 | + continuously be tested "end-to-end," from inception all the way |
| 140 | + to production, not only before deployment into production but |
| 141 | + actually also in production itself. |
| 142 | + |
| 143 | + ## Continuous Testing and Functional Health |
| 144 | + |
| 145 | + The EKG knows about "its Stories" and continuously tests them. |
| 146 | + It therefore knows about its own "functional health" and can |
| 147 | + detect whenever something changes (code, ontologies, ETL, new |
| 148 | + policies) whether it can still deliver all functionality. |
| 149 | + |
| 150 | + This means that Stories are not just requirements documents — |
| 151 | + they are **living, executable specifications** that the EKG |
| 152 | + monitors and validates throughout their entire lifecycle. |
| 153 | + |
| 154 | + ## Relationship to Other Concepts |
| 155 | + |
| 156 | + Stories link to other data structures in the Knowledge Graph: |
| 157 | + |
| 158 | + - **[Personas](persona.md)** — Each Story specifies which |
| 159 | + Persona needs the capability |
| 160 | + - **[Use Cases](use-case.md)** — Stories are organized within |
| 161 | + Use Cases, defining the functional requirements |
| 162 | + - **[Outcomes](outcome.md)** — The "why" part of a Story links |
| 163 | + to business outcomes |
| 164 | + - **[Concepts](concept.md)** — Stories reference domain concepts |
| 165 | + that need to be understood and modeled |
| 166 | + |
| 167 | + This integration ensures that Stories are not isolated |
| 168 | + requirements but part of a cohesive, semantic model of the |
| 169 | + enterprise. |
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