Story Mapping

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description: Map user journey to stories, identify releases and MVP scope
---

# Story Mapping

Create a user story map for "$ARGUMENTS". Define user activities and tasks, map stories under each task, draw release lines, identify MVP scope, and validate backlog completeness.

## Prerequisites

Check that `.project/$ARGUMENTS/00-initiate.md` exists. If it does not, tell the user to run an Initiate skill first (e.g., project-charter) and stop.

If the user passes `--skip-checks`, skip the prerequisite check and log the skip to `.project/$ARGUMENTS/skip-log.md` with a timestamp and reason.

## Process

1. **Read existing context:**
   - Read `.project/$ARGUMENTS/00-initiate.md` for charter and stakeholder context
   - Read `.project/$ARGUMENTS/01-plan.md` if it exists (for vision, roadmap, backlog, and user stories)
   - Read `plugins/project-management/shared/scrum-guide.md` for Scrum alignment

2. **Define user activities (top row):**
   - Identify the major things users do with the product (3-7 activities)
   - Activities represent the user's high-level goals, read left to right as a narrative
   - Examples: "Discover product", "Sign up", "Configure settings", "Complete core task", "Review results", "Share with team"
   - Order activities chronologically along the user journey
   - Each activity should map to one or more epics from the backlog

3. **Map user tasks under each activity (second row):**
   - For each activity, list the specific tasks a user performs (2-5 tasks per activity)
   - Tasks are more granular than activities but still describe user behavior, not implementation
   - Order tasks by typical usage sequence within each activity
   - Examples under "Sign up": "Enter email", "Verify email", "Set password", "Complete profile"

4. **Map stories under each task (detail rows):**
   - Place existing user stories under the task they support
   - Stories further down represent less critical variations or enhancements
   - The vertical axis represents priority: top stories are most essential, bottom are nice-to-have
   - Identify orphan stories that do not fit any task — these may indicate missing activities or tasks

5. **Draw horizontal release lines:**
   - **Release 1 (MVP):** draw a line across the map — everything above is MVP
   - **Release 2:** draw a second line — stories between Release 1 and Release 2
   - **Release 3+:** additional release lines as needed
   - Each release should deliver a coherent, usable increment — not just a random slice
   - Align release lines with roadmap milestones where possible

6. **Identify MVP scope from the map:**
   - MVP = all stories above the first release line
   - Validate that MVP tells a complete user story from left to right (covers all activities minimally)
   - Check that no activity is completely empty above the MVP line
   - Compare MVP scope with the backlog's Must-have items — they should align
   - Flag any discrepancies between the story map MVP and the backlog MVP

7. **Identify gaps and validate completeness:**
   - **Missing activities:** are there user goals not represented?
   - **Thin activities:** activities with very few stories may indicate underexplored areas
   - **Stories without a home:** backlog stories that do not fit the map may be unnecessary or may reveal missing activities
   - **User journey gaps:** can a user complete their journey end-to-end with MVP stories?
   - Document all gaps with recommendations (add stories, remove stories, or investigate)

8. **Write the artifact** — append to `.project/$ARGUMENTS/01-plan.md` under a `## Story Map` section:
   - **Activities** — top-row activities ordered by user journey
   - **Tasks** — tasks under each activity
   - **Story Map Grid** — stories placed under tasks, ordered by priority (top to bottom)
   - **Release Lines** — which stories fall into which release
   - **MVP Validation** — confirmation that MVP covers all activities end-to-end
   - **Gaps & Recommendations** — identified gaps with proposed actions

## Output

Story map appended to `.project/$ARGUMENTS/01-plan.md`. Present a summary highlighting:
- Number of activities and tasks mapped
- MVP scope: story count and coverage across activities
- Gaps identified and recommendations
- Alignment between story map and roadmap milestones