How to write user stories that work in Jira?

This article was updated on May 20, 2023, by Content and Marketing Specialist Dominik Letner.

User stories are a key element in agile methodologies. They are an essential strategy for communicating requirements to the development team. Any person tasked with documenting feature requirements must be able to write effective and accurate user stories in Jira.

One of the first things that you should know about user stories is that they should describe the users’ needs that your features must meet. They have to be general enough to enable the development team to start analyzing, designing, and developing the solution for the feature stated in the user stories. Moreover, you can’t make them detailed to grant the team full creative freedom in choosing their approach to designing a given functionality.

Here, I would like to share key tips for writing user stories in Jira, since it is one of the most widespread project management platforms among development teams. In general, Atlassian tools comes in handy to teams following agile frameworks such as Scrum or Kanban. These tools were designed to support teams with a wealth of functionalities that help to organize work and deliver higher value faster.

Ready to learn how user stories work in Jira? Let’s dive in!

Introduction to user stories in Jira

Just to make sure we’re on the same page, let’s start with the definition. A user story is a short and simplified description of a feature in the system under development. The most important thing about user stories is the fact that they are told from the users’ perspective. After all, they will be the ones using that capability. The user can be a customer who pays for the solution or an internal user of the system. 

As a [type of user X], I want to [do Y] so that I can [achieve goal Z]. 

For example:

As a team leader, I want to have access to advanced reporting so that I can report on the success of my team better.

Why write user stories?

  • They help the team focus on the end user – the development team usually works on a list of pending tasks, and they need access to a bigger-picture view of the project. That’s what user stories provide – they help your team stay focused on solving problems for real users. 
  • User stories boost collaboration – since they define the end goal, user stories help team members work together, brainstorm and decide how to build a feature that allows achieving that objective.
  • They create project momentum – after completing a user story, the team can celebrate a small win and drive the momentum of the project. 
  • User stories foster creativity – user stories are general and don’t include specific requirements or details. As a result, they encourage the team to brainstorm possible solutions to achieve the final goals.

Many teams write user stories on index cards or Post-it notes. Then they place user stories on the Scrum board and, during the sprint planning meeting, they decide which user stories will land in the backlog and their associated requirements. 

However, with Jira Software your team gets the opportunity to digitize the process. Here’s how writing user stories in Jira works.

How to write user stories in Jira?

You can create user stories in Jira by selecting the option to create a new issue. When choosing the issue type, you need to pick Story. You can then use the summary field to fill it with the user story itself. You will see it on the new issue creation screen.

The "Create issue" window where you can select your user story in Jira.

There are several things to remember when writing a user story:

  • Make sure that it’s independent. A user story needs to be able to exist on its own and make sense. So it needs to be detached from all other Jira user stories.
  • User stories are negotiable. A user story doesn’t detail specific features or contain requirements. Its role is to facilitate discussion among project stakeholders about what end goals a given system has to deliver. Another point is what kind of requirements will allow that system to perform.
  • Jira user stories must focus on business value. They concentrate on the user: their needs, desires, and requirements. Ultimately, every user story displays the end value that the software you are building will bring to your users.

You can also set priority to user stories in Jira. More options include adding due dates, assigning given user stories to team members in the project, and providing a story point estimation. Once the user story is ready, your team can assign it to the sprint during which they will implement it.

Once you choose a user story, you can provide a relevant summary.

Don’t forget about the Jira acceptance criteria

One of the essential elements of user stories is confirmation, where the team specifies the acceptance criteria for a given user story. Acceptance criteria in Jira are useful for making sure that you can mark a particular story as done. It serves as a definition of done for the team.

Usually, product owners use it to confirm the completion of a user story. Acceptance criteria in Jira are also a great help for the development team in implementing functionalities. They serve as a point of reference for the key quality assurance team. You can use the description field in the Jira issue creation screen to specify the Jira acceptance criteria for your user story.

Facilitate discussion

Another key aspect of user stories is that they should foster a conversation about the feature among all the project stakeholders, especially the development team. This is the “conversation” component of user stories.

To provide material for discussion, user stories often come with visual materials such as wireframesmockups, and project process diagrams. You can easily add all the files as attachments to your Jira issue that represents a user story. Moreover, Jira users can associate a user story with more advanced resources such as links to wiki pages maintained in Confluence (another Atlassian tool). Not to mention all the plugins available for Jira that can support cooperation on feature delivery. 

Key takeaway

Writing user stories is the best strategy for maintaining requirements in the dynamic ecosystem of agile projects. Jira offers a wealth of features that help teams to manage requirements efficiently. What is more, the software provides convenient connections to other Atlassian tools. Thanks to putting user stories in tangible frames of Jira Software, development teams can ensure that their product features meet all the users’ requirements.

Do you want Jira to boost your agile processes?

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Katarzyna Dorosz-Zurkowska

Katarzyna is a real Capitan of the Deviniti Spacecraft. She manages our astronauts and does it in a cosmic way. In Deviniti she loves how much everyone can develop themselves. She is really proud of the fact that more than 2 million people from companies such as Samsung, Deloitte, Comarch, Allianz, HSBC, and Credit Agricole have trusted us. In her free time, she likes to bake muffins, play with Legos, and do jigsaw puzzles.

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