Writing User Stories With AI
User stories are a simple but powerful way to describe what your software should do. They keep you focused on user needs rather than technical details, and AI can help you write and expand them effectively.
The User Story Format
User stories follow a consistent template:
"As a [type of user], I want [some feature] so that [some benefit]."
This format forces you to think about three things:
- Who is using this feature?
- What do they want to do?
- Why do they want to do it?
The "why" is often overlooked but crucial. Understanding the benefit helps you make better design decisions.
Breaking Features Into Stories
Instead of describing your project as one big thing, break it into individual user stories. Each story represents one piece of functionality from the user's perspective.
For a stock data fetcher:
1. As a user, I want to enter a stock symbol
so that I can see its current price.
2. As a user, I want to see an error message for invalid symbols
so that I know what went wrong.
3. As a user, I want to fetch multiple stocks at once
so that I can compare prices quickly.
Each story is small, focused, and testable. You can build them one at a time.
Adding Acceptance Criteria
Each user story should have acceptance criteria — specific conditions that must be true for the story to be complete:
Story: As a user, I want to enter a stock symbol
so that I can see its current price.
Acceptance Criteria:
- User can type a ticker symbol (e.g., "AAPL")
- System displays current price within 5 seconds
- Price is formatted as currency (e.g., "$150.25")
- System works for major US stock exchanges
These criteria tell you exactly what to build and how to verify it works.
Using AI to Generate Stories
AI excels at expanding user stories. Start with a project description and ask:
"Help me write user stories for a CLI tool that fetches stock prices"
The AI will generate stories you might not have considered: error handling, help messages, configuration options, output formatting.
You can also ask AI to add acceptance criteria:
"Add acceptance criteria to this user story: As a user, I want to see an error message for invalid symbols so that I know what went wrong."
Stories Guide Development
User stories aren't just documentation — they guide your development process. Each story becomes a task. When you complete a story, you've delivered real value.
This approach prevents the common trap of building features nobody asked for while neglecting features users actually need.