Story Mapping

Purpose

Create a visual story map (Jeff Patton method) organizing user activities, tasks, and stories across a horizontal user journey with vertical priority.

Input: Product scope, epics, user stories (optional), persona (optional)
Output: Story map document with backbone, walking skeleton, and release slices Examples: See examples.md for worked input/output.

Workflow

Step 1: Define the backbone

Identify 5–12 high-level user activities in chronological order (left to right):

• Activities = verbs describing what users do (not features)
• Example: "Discover product" → "Sign up" → "Configure" → "Use core feature" → "Share results"

Step 2: Add user tasks

Under each activity, list user tasks (smaller steps):

• Tasks are user-facing actions
• Order tasks left-to-right within activity by frequency/importance

Step 3: Map stories to tasks

Place user stories (or story placeholders) under tasks:

• Vertical position = priority (top = higher priority)
• Stories from user-story-generator map directly if available
• Create placeholders (US-???) for gaps

Step 4: Draw release slices

Draw horizontal lines across the map:

• Release 1 (Walking skeleton): minimum end-to-end path
• Release 2: enhanced experience
• Release 3+: optimizations and edge cases

Each release must deliver a complete user journey (not just one activity).

Step 5: Validate coherence

Check:

• Backbone tells a coherent user narrative
• Release 1 is viable and testable
• No activity has only low-priority stories in Release 1

Step 6: Validate

Run Validation checklist.

Decision Rules

Validation

• Backbone has 5–12 activities in chronological order
• Each activity has ≥1 user task
• Stories or placeholders mapped under tasks
• Vertical priority indicated (top = higher)
• ≥2 release slices defined
• Release 1 completes end-to-end user journey
• Map references persona if available

Anti-patterns

• Feature map, not story map — activities like "API layer" or "Admin panel."
• Release 1 = one column — only building first activity, no end-to-end flow.
• Flat priority — all stories at same vertical level.
• Missing backbone — jumping straight to story list without journey.
• Orphan stories — stories not connected to any user task.

Best Practices

• Use Jeff Patton's narrative flow: tell the user's story left to right.
• Walking skeleton first: thinnest possible end-to-end path.
• Align release slices with feature-prioritization MVP cut if available.
• Use persona scenario triggers to validate backbone completeness.
• Story map is living artifact — note it should update as learning occurs.

Output Structure

# Story Map: [Product Name]

## Persona
[Primary persona reference]

## Backbone & Tasks
| Activity 1 | Activity 2 | Activity 3 | ... |
|------------|------------|------------|-----|
| Task 1.1 | Task 2.1 | Task 3.1 | |
| Task 1.2 | | Task 3.2 | |

## Stories (by task)
### Activity 1: [Name]
#### Task 1.1: [Name]
| Priority | Story ID | Story title |
|----------|----------|-------------|
| High | US-001 | ... |
| Low | US-005 | ... |

## Release Slices
### Release 1 — Walking Skeleton
[Stories included: US-001, US-003, US-007...]
**Journey:** [describe end-to-end path]

### Release 2 — [Name]
[Stories...]

## Gaps
| Task | Missing story | Recommendation |
|------|---------------|----------------|

## Next Actions
- [ ] [Action item]

Next Skills