How to handle user stories vs new features in software development

[Nataly Rios Goico]

Hi there,

I'm trying to improve our dev process, and I'm not sure how to handle user stories. When we need to create a new feature, should I raise an "New feature" issue? But then, where do I add the user stories for this feature?

I'm not sure where user stories "live" in my project and how developers can use them. Normally once the feature is done, they close it, so I'm not sure how user stories fit.

Any advice would be helpful! 

[Jack Brickey]

Hi @Nataly Rios Goico , there really isn't a clear concept of features in Jira. I will share with you some thoughts for you to consider. In the end it comes down to what works best for you and your team.

• in standard plan you have epic – story – subtasks so you could use epic as a feature if you wish and then apply the various stories within that epic. You could also consider simply creating an issue type equivalent to story but call it new feature. Then using the link feature you could link all your stories to that new feature as relates to.
• in premium you have another level - initiative – epic – story – subtasks. So here you have an option of using initiatives or epics as features. However I don't think I would ever use an initiative for a feature as it is generally intended to be something much larger than a single feature.

in any event, from a developers perspective, I don't think they really need to concern themselves with features but rather they should focus on the stories that define the feature. The feature is it more interest to the project or program manager.

just my $0.02 here.

[Nataly Rios Goico]

This is very useful, thank you!