flpbalada Theme, Epic, Story
Goal
Structure work from strategy to execution. Keep user value separate from implementation tasks.
Hierarchy
- Theme: strategic outcome. Why this matters.
- Epic: major capability. What area changes.
- Story: user need. What value is delivered.
- Task: implementation work. How to build it.
Rules
- Themes need measurable outcomes.
- Epics must fit inside a planning horizon.
- Stories must be user-centered and testable.
- Tasks belong under stories, not beside themes.
- Split oversized epics by workflow, role, data lifecycle, platform, or release slice.
- Split oversized stories until they fit one sprint.
- Keep non-goals explicit.
Flow
- Define theme goal and success metric.
- List epics needed to reach the goal.
- Define each epic scope and out-of-scope.
- Break each epic into stories.
- Add acceptance criteria to each story.
- Identify dependencies.
- Mark MVP vs later work.
Story Format
As a [user type],
I want [capability],
so that [benefit].
INVEST Check
- Independent.
- Negotiable.
- Valuable.
- Estimable.
- Small.
- Testable.
Resources
- User Story Mapping - Jeff Patton
- Agile Estimating and Planning - Mike Cohn
- Essential Scrum - Kenneth Rubin
Output
## Theme
- Name:
- Goal:
- Success metrics:
## Epics
- [epic]: scope, out-of-scope, dependencies
## Release
- MVP:
- Later:
- Non-goals: