Describing the Application
First Steps
Before starting any project, we would like to have some idea of the value the product will bring. Product management best practices are beyond the scope of this course, so we will limit ourselves to considering a few fundamental ideas. Our first step will be to familiarize ourselves with the domain for which we are building the product, have a number of conversations with key stakeholder to understand the problems they are facing, and then describe the solutions to be developed.
The Domain
In the example we provide, we consider a solar power station. The physical system consists of groups of panels connected to an inverter and groups of inverters connected to a transformer, with transformers being connected to the wider grid infrastructure.
Key Stakeholders
A number of people consume data from the power plant. There are analysts who are interested in both the daily and historical tends of the data, and combine it with other sources to understand past performance and create forecasts. Executives are interested in having a broad overview of the functioning of the plant and the option to drill down deep into any individual part of the plant. Technicians need to monitor each piece of infrastructure and schedule preventative maintenance cycles based on past performance.
A number of conversations were held with these individuals, and their needs can be synthesized into a format which will help guide the development of the application.
User Stories
A user story is a way to connect a specific role or persona (executive, analyst, technician, developer, etc.) with the value that a certain function of the product will bring. There are many potential formats for a user story, but one common one is:
“As a [persona], I [want to], [so that].”
[Persona] is who we are building the product for. It’s not necessarily a job title, but rather the function being carried out. We’ve talked to a few people who fit this persona, we understand what they do, how they think and feel, and what their goals are.
[Want to] is the intent of the person. We’re not writing a specific feature, but rather what they are trying to accomplish.
[So that] describes how their goals fit into their bigger picture? What’s the overall benefit they’re trying to achieve or the big problem which needs to be solved?
Some Example User Stories:
As an executive, I want a dashboard displaying key performance indicators (KPIs) of the power plant in order to make decisions based on data.
As an executive, I want to create and automatically publish reports based on historical and real-time data to evaluate and monitor key performance indicators.
As an economist, I want to build predictive models based on data aggregated from internal and external sources in order to create and publish accurate forecasts.
As a technician, I want to receive timely alerts when any system requires attention, in order to increase uptime in our power station.
As a technician, I want to create preventative maintenance schedules based on historical failure rates in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of all maintenance operations.
Exercises
Consider the product which you want to create and use the below questions to guide you in developing a few user stories.
Which people will be using your product?
Based on conversations with potential users:
How do they deliver value and where are they having difficulties?
What features would they find useful?
Write a few user stories which connect a user persona with what they are trying to accomplish and how meeting those needs allow them to contribute to the greater goals of the enterprise.
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