User Stories Don't Help Users: Introducing
Persona Stories
by William Hudson

Interactions Magazine, Nov-Dec 2013

Abstract

User stories are one of the most popular alternatives to traditional user requirement specifications. But despite their promising name, user stories are not about – and don’t necessarily help – users at all. In most cases, user stories are written about roles that users adopt and take no account of the needs and behaviors of real users. Were that not indictment enough, user stories suffer from demonstrable flaws in structure and are often written by the wrong people at the wrong time.

This article examines the background of user stories in their current form, highlights their failings and proposes a more appropriate alternative for the development of interactive systems; persona stories.