Do you include UX/Creative subtasks in your user-stories?

[SeaninPDX]

Does anyone have an opinion on creating user stories with dependency-linked sub-tasks and assigned to different team members i.e. UI Designers, Engineers, Creatives? We currently do this way and it is causing several issues and I can't find a good solution...

For example, let's pretend I'm building a house and I have a user story that reads: "As the homeowner[user], I want a deck off the backporch[need] so I can grill outside[benefit]"

And that Story includes the following sub-tasks:

1. Design the deck (assigned to architect)

2. Choose the correct wood stain (assigned to the painter)

3. Build the deck (assigned to the general contractor)

In this example, it is likely that subtask #1 (design the deck) would happen in Sprint #1 while subtasks #2 and #3 would come in later sprints. The assumption being that subtasks #2 & #3 are dependent on subtask #1 because the painter would need to know where the deck will be (shade or sun), how big it is, etc. before deciding on the correct wood stain.... just like the general contractor needs to know the design of the deck before he builds it...

If we were to move our example story to Sprint #1, the GreenHopper Board would not reflect reality. Only subtask #1 will be worked on during sprint #1.... GreenHopper doesn't allow you to move story subtasks into sprints independently of the parent story, we would then have two subtasks that are not actually 'in progress'..

Not sure if that makes any sense but that is the challenge I am currently facing...

Thanks in advance for any feedback/questions/comments!

Sean

[vkharisma · Accepted solution]

It is true that you can't set sub-task to different sprint than its parent. You can consider to use Epic-stories so you can assign the stories into a different sprint. Is this acceptable for your use case?

[Hannah Walters]

Absolutely loved this blog post! It's incredibly insightful and raises an important question about user stories in agile development. As someone who works with a top UI/UX design agency in Dallas, I can't stress enough how crucial it is to incorporate UX and creative subtasks into user stories. This not only ensures a more holistic approach to product development but also leads to more user-centric solutions. Great read!

[Andre Brissette]

I would simply create two or three different stories instead of using sub-task. In fact according to Scrum it would still make sense as the "Deck design" can be consider as a single deliverable.

and yes maybe group them within the same Epic if it help in some way

[Jag Greenwood]

Previous Jan 12 Answer: implies that you can create an Epic and in-turn create User Stories within that Epic. You can create an Epic, but within the Epic you can only create Issues.

IF you want to "link" User Stories to an Epic, you will need to configure the Card View, following this process: https://answers.atlassian.com/questions/37369/is-there-a-way-to-allow-me-link-a-story-to-an-epic-while-creating-the-user-story

Otherwise; if you just create an Epic you will not see any options to create any kind of a Subtask except the Issues ticket-type (not a User Story Subtask).

(User Stories are distinct from Issues in many ways. One way is that you can not create/split-off a "Subtask" from an "Issue". But you can indeed create/split-off a "Subtask" from a "User Story".)

So focusing on the original question: You could create an "Epic" for ""As the homeowner[user], I want a deck off the backporch[need] so I can grill outside[benefit]". Then you could create an "Issue", under that same Epic, for each of the work-items...

1. Design the deck (assigned to architect)

2. Choose the correct wood stain (assigned to the painter)

3. Build the deck (assigned to the general contractor)

If that works for you, good deal. But if you try to treat any of those "Issues" as a "User Story", you'll quickly learn that your "User Story" traits will not be usable. Things like creating a "Subtask" for let's say an issue (bug) you encounterd, from that User Story is not going to work. That's because it's already an "issue". And not a "User Story".

So....if you want to really have User Stories under your Epics, you will need to first create an Epic. Close/Save that Epic off. Then go into the Card View and use the following process to create your User Stories: https://answers.atlassian.com/questions/37369/is-there-a-way-to-allow-me-link-a-story-to-an-epic-while-creating-the-user-story