I–Independent
N–Negotiable
V–Valuable
E–Estimable
S–Small
T–Testable
This is almost universally used to teach how to write stories. But notice, it’s a goal, not a method. Goals are good, but in themselves, don’t provide much guidance to get to them (think “buy low sell high”).
A better way to learn to write stories is to take advantage of the discovery & specification phases of Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD). While usually relegated to the 2nd or 3rd round of training we’ve seen light-weight ATDD integrated with initial Scrum training enables teams to write stories right out of the box and eliminates 3 of the major challenges most teams have adopting Scrum:
1) writing small stories
2) having clear requirements
3) understanding why testing cannot lag coding
This is the key to learning Agile- not just learning the end state desired, but using methods that actually help get you there. It is easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than think your way into a new way of acting.
ATDD has the dev team focus on identifying and validating (Testable) Small chunks of Value by “Negotiating” with the PO. Part of ATDD is to decouple (make Independent) the stories. Since these stories are now understood, they are also Estimable.