Thanks Mike - as always a great video. Concise, relevant and intuitive - what's not to like. I shall share it immediately with my team, and the organisation that I work with.
As UX researcher and domain expert, I find user story maps an interesting type of artefact -- somewhat different from user journey maps in that they are perhaps more product- and dev-centric. I'm learning about Object-Oriented UX concurrently, which focuses on mapping all relevant 'objects' prior to mapping interactions and steps in user flows. OOUX might come in before user story maps or even user journey maps, and seems useful in combining goal-directed design approaches (possibly Jobs to be done as well?) with observational research about what users actually do and really need. This video is really useful in helping me to better understand how my colleagues who are more technical and product operations-focused go about building products, and how I can best feed UX research insights accordingly. Many thanks! ⭐
You're welcome! I'm glad you find a lot of value from it. Knowing some UX design will certainly help enhance the story mapping process (you'll be able to provide more insight into user interactions and needs), but it isn't a prerequisite. The focus of story mapping is on understanding the sequence of user actions and identifying gaps or missing information, which you can do without having a deep knowledge of the UX design. So I'd caution you about mapping out every object before coming into a Story Mapping session.
@@MountainGoatSoftware When I was re-watching this video, it seemed to me like the "Send the Email" solution would be a response to one or more user need insight(s) surfaced by UX research and shared with the team to focus efforts. The stakeholders that engage with users (in a systematic way that surfaces not just active needs but latent needs, as well, would be the UX designers and researchers. That's the way I see this activity involving the right voices and that's what I appreciate so much about story mapping - it can bring out a harmonious outcome (perhaps my glasses are too rose-colored :) )
Thanks, Mike, I would like to ask in case we have multiple cases, how do we visualize on story map? And do we treat backbone as Epic? If yes for the incremental it means the epic done when all activities finish or mvp is release? In case mvp release but epic still have activity it means it never end?
In a story map, multiple cases are visualized by placing stories across the grid to show the sequence in which they'll happen and down the grid to show alternatives. If there are multiple ways to achieve the same goal, those alternatives would be stacked vertically. The backbone isn't necessarily treated as an epic. The backbone represents the new or improved functionality users need and can be thought of as the topmost narrative in the story map. An epic isn't considered completed when the MVP is released. The MVP represents a subset of the functionality that delivers value early, but the epic may still have additional activities that need to be completed in subsequent iterations. So, if the MVP is released but the epic still has activities, it means that the epic is not yet complete. The remaining activities will continue to be worked on in future iterations until the epic is fully realized.
Great question. I'd start out with one map but would very willingly create a second if needed. Sometimes the differences can be minor (but important). I'm thinking about the check out process on Amazon for prime vs. non-prime members. If 80% of that is the same I'd stick with one map (for simplicity) and just draw a little symbol on the cards that differ (or use a different color). But if the users are very different (normal user vs sys admin or such) start with separate maps.
Thanks for the question and for the answer. Recently I was finding it very difficult to get some expert answer on this specific question. Thank you once again 🙏🏻.
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Always getting insights from these videos.
Thank you.
Thanks Mike - as always a great video. Concise, relevant and intuitive - what's not to like. I shall share it immediately with my team, and the organisation that I work with.
Thanks, Michael. I appreciate it.
This was a revelation in story mapping and I will use this with my new team. Keep up the good wlork
I appreciate that. Thanks.
beautifully explained
Thank you!
Thank you !
You're welcome.
As UX researcher and domain expert, I find user story maps an interesting type of artefact -- somewhat different from user journey maps in that they are perhaps more product- and dev-centric. I'm learning about Object-Oriented UX concurrently, which focuses on mapping all relevant 'objects' prior to mapping interactions and steps in user flows. OOUX might come in before user story maps or even user journey maps, and seems useful in combining goal-directed design approaches (possibly Jobs to be done as well?) with observational research about what users actually do and really need. This video is really useful in helping me to better understand how my colleagues who are more technical and product operations-focused go about building products, and how I can best feed UX research insights accordingly. Many thanks! ⭐
You're welcome! I'm glad you find a lot of value from it. Knowing some UX design will certainly help enhance the story mapping process (you'll be able to provide more insight into user interactions and needs), but it isn't a prerequisite. The focus of story mapping is on understanding the sequence of user actions and identifying gaps or missing information, which you can do without having a deep knowledge of the UX design. So I'd caution you about mapping out every object before coming into a Story Mapping session.
@@MountainGoatSoftware When I was re-watching this video, it seemed to me like the "Send the Email" solution would be a response to one or more user need insight(s) surfaced by UX research and shared with the team to focus efforts. The stakeholders that engage with users (in a systematic way that surfaces not just active needs but latent needs, as well, would be the UX designers and researchers. That's the way I see this activity involving the right voices and that's what I appreciate so much about story mapping - it can bring out a harmonious outcome (perhaps my glasses are too rose-colored :) )
Thanks, Mike, I would like to ask in case we have multiple cases, how do we visualize on story map? And do we treat backbone as Epic? If yes for the incremental it means the epic done when all activities finish or mvp is release? In case mvp release but epic still have activity it means it never end?
In a story map, multiple cases are visualized by placing stories across the grid to show the sequence in which they'll happen and down the grid to show alternatives. If there are multiple ways to achieve the same goal, those alternatives would be stacked vertically. The backbone isn't necessarily treated as an epic. The backbone represents the new or improved functionality users need and can be thought of as the topmost narrative in the story map. An epic isn't considered completed when the MVP is released. The MVP represents a subset of the functionality that delivers value early, but the epic may still have additional activities that need to be completed in subsequent iterations. So, if the MVP is released but the epic still has activities, it means that the epic is not yet complete. The remaining activities will continue to be worked on in future iterations until the epic is fully realized.
Hi Mike, if the product has several types of users and they have different experiences, do you recommend to create several story maps?
Great question. I'd start out with one map but would very willingly create a second if needed. Sometimes the differences can be minor (but important). I'm thinking about the check out process on Amazon for prime vs. non-prime members. If 80% of that is the same I'd stick with one map (for simplicity) and just draw a little symbol on the cards that differ (or use a different color).
But if the users are very different (normal user vs sys admin or such) start with separate maps.
@@MountainGoatSoftware that's great! Thanks a lot! I appreciate it
@@ed8574 You're welcome
Thanks for the question and for the answer. Recently I was finding it very difficult to get some expert answer on this specific question. Thank you once again 🙏🏻.
@@ajaygovinds You're welcome.