A Real-Life User Story
My office is a mess.
It has been a mess for … my entire life? My habit has been to leave unfinished projects lying about so that I’m reminded to complete them … or abandon them. I can honestly say this has not been the best way for me; it has worked better to manage my to-do items with an in-real-life backlog (the items that matter, anyway). Managing an IRL backlog is more art than science, just like at work.
Similar to my work backlog, I have initiatives and tasks of different types:
- User stories are those things that add value to my life.
- Chores are mostly maintenance, repetition, or toil.
Chores still matter: if you ignore your good-time problems you start to have bad-time problems.
You can eventually figure out how to automate away toil with user stories that eliminate chores: auto-pay your bills, put your lights on timers, get a smart(ish) thermostat … whatever gets it done for good.
IRL Backlog To The Rescue
My IRL backlog includes the most important things and anything I want to remember. I leave out what’s already on my calendar, and anything that is so routine or habitual it doesn’t need reminding. Some things are time- or context-based, like taking medicine at a certain time or remembering to do something when I get home: they go into my reminders app.
As I mentioned, the office is a mess. Creating a backlog has been one way to tame that beast, but it doesn’t get rid of all the accumulated kipple and clutter. I recently bought a file cabinet from IKEA in the hopes that appointing an “away” in which to put things would solve the problem. However, before I invested in assembling yet another thing I needed to ask myself, “Why am I doing this? What is this in service of?” Without the why, I have no way of knowing if I’ve succeeded. (If you’re like me, you have a lot of IKEA/Container Store “solutions” that didn’t end up solving anything.) So, I wrote myself a user story.
Without the why, I have no way of knowing if I’ve succeeded.
A Real-Life User Story
Why
I want to optimize my work area for the feelings of peace and joy that come from an uncomplicated space.
User Story
When my desk is so full of clutter that I barely have room to work AND I have trouble placing things
I want a place to put everything, with everything in its place
So that I have an open and clutter-free work surface
Acceptance Criteria
GIVEN a cluttered desk gives me distress
WHEN office supplies and files are no longer present on the desk surface
THEN I feel peace and joy as I look at the desk OR as I use the desk
GIVEN office supplies are no longer present on the desk surface
WHEN I need to use an office supply or file
THEN I can easily retrieve it
GIVEN I have taken out an office supply or file
WHEN I finish using it
THEN it feels easy, like second nature, to put it away somewhere other than the desk surface
Greater Purpose
You may be thinking, “this is an awful lot for just putting together IKEA furniture.” You might be wondering, “he doesn’t really expect me to get this philosophical about office supplies, does he?” Or you might be worried, “am I missing something because I don’t stop to meditate on my life before cleaning my desk?”
This user story isn’t about office supplies; it’s about my having peace and joy … my vision of “the good future”; it’s about testing a hypothesis that a cleaner desk will deliver me to the good future. A good user story reminds me what I’m actually trying to do (in case my IKEA strategy doesn’t work). It keeps me honest about whether I’ve actually achieved my goal (or merely added an awkward contrivance to my work area that makes things worse).
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How have you used your product management practices in your personal life?
