Which of the following is the correct format for writing a User Story?

The standard and most widely accepted format for a User Story is "As a , I want/should be able to , so that ." This structure is fundamental in Scrum for capturing requirements from an end-user perspective. It clearly identifies the 'Who' (the user), the 'What' (the desired functionality), and the 'Why' (the value or reason behind the requirement). This format ensures that the development team remains focused on delivering value to the user and understands the context of the work.

B. This option incorrectly swaps the benefit and the requirement, which makes the statement illogical and fails to capture the user's goal correctly.

C. This option is a grammatically and structurally incorrect format that also confuses the requirement with the benefit, making it difficult to understand.

D. This option places the role/persona at the end, which deviates from the standard format that prioritizes establishing the user's perspective first for context.

1. A Guide to the Scrum Body of Knowledge (SBOK® Guide)

3rd Edition

SCRUMstudy

VMEdu Inc.

2017. Section 8.3.1.2

"User Stories

" states the format as: "As a

I want to so that ." This directly corresponds to the structure in option A

defining the role

the requirement

and the benefit.

2. Cohn

M. (2004). User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development. Addison-Wesley Professional. Chapter 2

"Writing Stories

" introduces the template "As a

I want so that

" which is the foundational format for user stories in Agile and Scrum.

3. Lucassen

G.

Dalpiaz

F.

van der Werf

J. M. E.

& Brinkkemper

S. (2016). The use and effectiveness of user stories in practice. In 2016 IEEE 24th International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE) (pp. 205-214). IEEE. This academic paper analyzes user story quality and references the widely adopted Connextra template: "As a

I want so that ." (DOI: 10.1109/RE.2016.29).