A user story is a requirement statement that describes a desired software feature from the perspective of an end user. User stories typically follow a simple template: “As a [type of user], I want [goal] so that [reason].” User stories are a key part of agile software development methodologies like Scrum.
On LinkedIn, user stories help product managers, designers, and engineers understand how members want to use LinkedIn to reach their professional goals. LinkedIn then prioritizes building features that align with those user stories and business objectives.
Why LinkedIn Uses User Stories
LinkedIn adopted agile software development practices as it has grown to over 770 million members worldwide. Agile methods like Scrum use user stories to capture requirements in a simple, easily understandable format. This promotes collaboration between product teams and stakeholders.
Some key benefits of user stories for LinkedIn include:
- Focusing on user goals instead of technical details
- Promoting discussion and feedback on requirements
- Supporting iterative development and continuous delivery
- Enabling reporting on feature delivery and business value
By putting members first with user stories, LinkedIn aims to create solutions that offer real value and align with strategic objectives. User stories help the product team build the right things in the right order.
Examples of LinkedIn User Stories
Here are some examples of potential user stories for LinkedIn features:
Messaging
- As a member, I want to message my connections so that I can easily network.
- As a recruiter, I want to message potential candidates so I can gauge their interest.
Groups
- As an entrepreneur, I want to join industry groups so I can connect with peers.
- As a marketer, I want to manage a company group so I can engage our target audience.
Jobs
- As a job seeker, I want to view job listings so I can find new career opportunities.
- As a hiring manager, I want to post jobs so I can attract qualified applicants.
These sample stories demonstrate how LinkedIn might capture requirements from member perspectives. The development team can then use the stories to guide decisions on features and functionality.
How LinkedIn Writes User Stories
LinkedIn product managers and designers write user stories as part of ideation and planning. Here are some best practices they follow:
- Focus on the user and their goal first before any solution.
- Use simple, non-technical language easily understood by all stakeholders.
- Capture stories in a standard template, like “As a [user], I want [function] so that [benefit].”
- Include relevant details like personas, contexts, and acceptance criteria.
- Prioritize stories based on business value and member needs.
Well-written user stories align the entire product team around delivering the most important user and business outcomes. LinkedIn product managers refine and re-prioritize stories continuously based on feedback and learnings.
How LinkedIn Prioritizes User Stories
With hundreds of potential features in its backlog, LinkedIn must choose which user stories to focus on in each development cycle. Prioritization is critical.
LinkedIn considers these key factors when prioritizing user stories:
- Business value – How much does the story contribute to business goals like revenue growth and engagement?
- Member impact – How many members will use the feature? What is the value to members?
- Dependency – Are there any blocking dependencies for technology or other stories?
- Effort – What is the estimated engineering and design effort? Is the scope clear?
- Data – What data, research, and feedback supports the user need?
LinkedIn product managers and designers score stories using criteria like this to rank them in the backlog. Higher priority stories rise to the top of each sprint cycle for the agile teams to deliver.
How LinkedIn Teams Estimate and Plan with User Stories
During sprint planning sessions, the LinkedIn product and engineering teams estimate the effort for each user story. This sets expectations on what they can deliver in a sprint.
Common techniques used to estimate stories include:
- T-shirt sizing – Classify stories as small, medium, large, extra large using relative sizing.
- Story points – Assign point values to each story based on effort, complexity, and unknowns.
- Ideal days – Estimate days of work for each role required to implement a story.
- User story mapping – Visually map out user activities and flows to estimate story scope.
LinkedIn agile teams often use story points for estimation and tracking velocity. The development team forecasts how many story points they can complete per sprint based on past performance.
During sprints, LinkedIn holds daily standups to assess progress on stories. Any issues blocking a story get raised immediately so the team can problem solve.
At the end of each sprint, the team demonstrates completed stories. Metrics on story throughput help optimize estimation and planning.
User Stories Enable LinkedIn to Deliver Value
User stories are integral to LinkedIn’s ability to frequently deliver value to members while pursuing strategic growth. By capturing requirements from an end user perspective in a simple standard format, LinkedIn maintains a member-first mindset across its product development practices.
Writing clear, concise user stories encourages collaboration between designers, engineers, stakeholders, and members. The stories provide a shared understanding of the problem statement and user needs.
Prioritizing stories based on user and business impact ensures LinkedIn builds solutions that move key metrics. Estimating and sprint planning with stories allows the product team to optimize its agile process.
Overall, user stories empower autonomous, cross-functional teams at LinkedIn to work iteratively and transparently. This results in higher quality experiences that create ongoing value for members.
Key Takeaways
- LinkedIn uses user stories to capture requirements in agile product development.
- Stories follow a simple template focused on user goals and benefits.
- LinkedIn prioritizes stories based on business value, member impact, dependencies, and effort.
- Teams estimate stories to forecast what they can deliver in sprints.
- User stories facilitate collaboration, shared understanding, and delivering value.
Conclusion
User stories have proven to be an effective methodology for LinkedIn to build member experiences at global scale. By focusing product development on value for specific user segments, LinkedIn continues to achieve strong business results. User stories enable autonomy with alignment across hundreds of product teams. Ultimately, LinkedIn’s ability to serve members and customers better depends on its disciplined approach of putting users first.