Story Mapping

Story Mapping

Create a user story map for "$ARGUMENTS". Define user activities and tasks, map stories under each task, draw release lines, identify MVP scope, and validate backlog completeness.

Prerequisites

Check that .project/$ARGUMENTS/00-initiate.md exists. If it does not, tell the user to run an Initiate skill first (e.g., project-charter) and stop.

If the user passes --skip-checks, skip the prerequisite check and log the skip to .project/$ARGUMENTS/skip-log.md with a timestamp and reason.

Process

1. Read existing context:

   • Read .project/$ARGUMENTS/00-initiate.md for charter and stakeholder context
   • Read .project/$ARGUMENTS/01-plan.md if it exists (for vision, roadmap, backlog, and user stories)
   • Read plugins/project-management/shared/scrum-guide.md for Scrum alignment

2. Define user activities (top row):

   • Identify the major things users do with the product (3-7 activities)
   • Activities represent the user's high-level goals, read left to right as a narrative
   • Examples: "Discover product", "Sign up", "Configure settings", "Complete core task", "Review results", "Share with team"
   • Order activities chronologically along the user journey
   • Each activity should map to one or more epics from the backlog

3. Map user tasks under each activity (second row):

   • For each activity, list the specific tasks a user performs (2-5 tasks per activity)
   • Tasks are more granular than activities but still describe user behavior, not implementation
   • Order tasks by typical usage sequence within each activity
   • Examples under "Sign up": "Enter email", "Verify email", "Set password", "Complete profile"

4. Map stories under each task (detail rows):

   • Place existing user stories under the task they support
   • Stories further down represent less critical variations or enhancements
   • The vertical axis represents priority: top stories are most essential, bottom are nice-to-have
   • Identify orphan stories that do not fit any task — these may indicate missing activities or tasks

5. Draw horizontal release lines:

   • Release 1 (MVP): draw a line across the map — everything above is MVP
   • Release 2: draw a second line — stories between Release 1 and Release 2
   • Release 3+: additional release lines as needed
   • Each release should deliver a coherent, usable increment — not just a random slice
   • Align release lines with roadmap milestones where possible

6. Identify MVP scope from the map:

   • MVP = all stories above the first release line
   • Validate that MVP tells a complete user story from left to right (covers all activities minimally)
   • Check that no activity is completely empty above the MVP line
   • Compare MVP scope with the backlog's Must-have items — they should align
   • Flag any discrepancies between the story map MVP and the backlog MVP

7. Identify gaps and validate completeness:

   • Missing activities: are there user goals not represented?
   • Thin activities: activities with very few stories may indicate underexplored areas
   • Stories without a home: backlog stories that do not fit the map may be unnecessary or may reveal missing activities
   • User journey gaps: can a user complete their journey end-to-end with MVP stories?
   • Document all gaps with recommendations (add stories, remove stories, or investigate)

8. Write the artifact — append to .project/$ARGUMENTS/01-plan.md under a ## Story Map section:

   • Activities — top-row activities ordered by user journey
   • Tasks — tasks under each activity
   • Story Map Grid — stories placed under tasks, ordered by priority (top to bottom)
   • Release Lines — which stories fall into which release
   • MVP Validation — confirmation that MVP covers all activities end-to-end
   • Gaps & Recommendations — identified gaps with proposed actions

Output

Story map appended to .project/$ARGUMENTS/01-plan.md. Present a summary highlighting:

• Number of activities and tasks mapped
• MVP scope: story count and coverage across activities
• Gaps identified and recommendations
• Alignment between story map and roadmap milestones