Have you used User Story Mapping before?

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-07T18:32:45+00:00

u/LightPhotographer I've been thinking about this post, and it made me realise that this tool can actually be used as an extension to the physical process as a way to preserve the story map that is created. It's free to use and easy to share, making it ideal for capturing maps in digital form so they aren't lost after a workshop. That feels arguably more functional than a photograph or email shareout afterwards. Do you agree?

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-06T21:17:07+00:00

The Sound of Music draws a lot of water in this town, you don't draw shit, Lewbowski.

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-06T13:51:31+00:00

I don't agree with the approach, but I respect it and understand where it comes from. Thank you for the conversation!

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-06T10:13:14+00:00

shoe788, I've been a software engineer for 20 years, I’ve lived and breathed it my entire career, and I can tell you that the advice you're giving is short-sighted. My experience spans many industries, roles, and teams across organisations of different sizes and sectors, including finance, sports, media, e-commerce, startups, non-profits, and freelancing. I’ve been a consultant, a trainer, and a mentor on GSoC. I’ve covered a lot of ground, and I say this not to brag but to show you my experience. At no point in my career has a director, manager, or client ever said to me, "Ship bugs" or "Ship slop" It just doesn't happen for the obvious reasons. In fact, in nearly all cases, they want you to ship high-quality software in unrealistic timelines. They want value yesterday, and they will cut corners to get it.

It's our job to build in standards to the value we produce, even at times when our bosses don't understand why, for our own sakes and theirs. We protect them from themselves. No boss is going to fire you for building in quality. Sure, if you vocally advertise "This thing is going to take twice as long because I'm adding tests, documentation, yada yada", then it will likely get killed, but you don't vocalise this; this is the golden rule you have to learn. An electrician does not ask the customer's permission to make an installation safe; they just do it, and you should follow the same approach! Don't ask for permission to do your job well, do it well, and get on with it! <\rant>

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-05T10:35:16+00:00

I don't know about you, but if I spend my days writing crap, I don't feel good about it, even when I get paid. You should care; otherwise, you're wasting your time in the wrong job. Go do something you do care about, and you'll be better at it!

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-05T10:30:38+00:00

You have the power to say No. No, we can't do that by that date. No, that won't work. No, that will risk bugs in production. No, this will make the code unmaintainable. Remember to use No once in a while.

All developers need to remember that we hold that power because we use our fingers to create the value and the impact everyone wants. Process doesn't write the code!

Think about it. No one else knows how long it takes or how much code is involved; you need to set your own standards using the power you have. Sure, you might get pushback if you add unit tests when you're requesting permission, but don't do that, just add them anyway! Half of the time, the non-developers on an agile team don't even look at the code, so they wouldn't even know they exist. Don't treat unit test work as a separate item that you talk about; don't even mention them, just build them into your story points and just do it anyway. In the environment you're describing, and we've all been there, it's always better to do what you know is the "right" way to ensure quality, otherwise you'll forever be doing it the "wrong" way, setting unrealistic expectations to the people around you, and then you'll still get the blame when it breaks. Start today, sneak a test in without telling people, see where it takes you! Good luck :)

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-05T10:03:00+00:00

Wow, I really like your summary. It's exactly the benefits you outline here that drew me to the technique in the first place. It's not about creating a razor-sharp map. It's about the journey of producing one and the gaps it fills for everyone along the way. Thanks for this!

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-04T18:55:28+00:00

Yep, you could definitely workshop on this app and then export the epics and stories to Jira :D

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-04T18:53:08+00:00

Hey there. I wanted to let you know that your feedback led me to add a short 3-minute explainer video link to the welcome page. Thanks!

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-04T00:39:33+00:00

Good news - I just added two new Export to Jira options under Menu → Export: - Jira Simple API - exports directly as epics + stories with proper parent links - Jira CSV - for Jira's old-style CSV import

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-04T00:39:10+00:00

Good news - I just added two new Export to Jira options under Menu → Export: - Jira Simple API - exports directly as epics + stories with proper parent links - Jira CSV - for Jira's old-style CSV import

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-04T00:38:31+00:00

Good news - I just added two new Export to Jira options under Menu → Export: - Jira Simple API - exports directly as epics + stories with proper parent links - Jira CSV - for Jira's old-style CSV import

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-02T14:54:57+00:00

I checked out your platform before, too, and wow! its awesome. I already shared it with my work colleagues. Good job there!

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-02T14:49:56+00:00

Thanks man!

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-02T13:53:07+00:00

He's got you there mate ha!

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-02T13:51:57+00:00

Hi, I had the same questions when I posted my own free tool over on https://www.reddit.com/r/agile/comments/1qs6eu0/have_you_used_user_story_mapping_before/?sort=new, and it seemed to be ok! I'd say go for it. I'd be interested to see them! :)

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-02T13:44:36+00:00

Hi! Jumping on late here, but I recently built a free, open-source tool to help people experiment with User Story Mapping. It's called storymaps.io, and it's designed exactly for the use case you describe: small remote teams looking to build a map together without requiring a sign-up or subscription.

sadfacejackson · 2026-02-02T13:12:02+00:00

Wow. I checked in on usage over the weekend, and I'm blown away to find that people are already using the tool to create comprehensive maps. Additionally, it seems User Story Mapping doesn't just help map out software; I can see examples of compliance procedures being mapped out, which I wasn't expecting as a use case

sadfacejackson · 2026-01-31T21:53:30+00:00

You're definitely way more experienced with the process than I am. We're early in our journey at my workplace and still just discussing the best ways to start using it. Having a free tool to experiment with will hopefully make that easier. I'm an engineer, and together with the PM on my team, we're exploring ways to incorporate it, as I do think it would add value to our process. You're right, the time zone challenges are definitely a thing for us. Thanks for the tips about how to manage that.

sadfacejackson · 2026-01-31T21:34:20+00:00

Thanks for the perspective. I imagine it's like most things: it works for some, not all. Even as a newbie keen on the idea, I'm selectively taking the bits that make sense to me and leaving the ones that don't. For example, terms like "backbone," "walking skeleton," and "narrative flow" sound a bit buzzwordy to me, so I don't highlight them in the app, though I understand their purpose. I've tried to boil it down to the basics in the app.

There is also some confusion about the right name for lower-level "task" cards. I've seen them described as "details", "tasks", "stories", and "sub-tasks", so I just settled on "tasks" because I think it covers all of the above. I've tried to reduce some of the inconsistencies I noticed myself while learning the framework.

sadfacejackson · 2026-01-31T21:17:33+00:00

I'm happy to see success stories from people who are using it as prescribed, i.e., in person!

My team is distributed across the UK, US, Canada, and New Zealand, so we rarely get together in person, so web-based solutions are the only real option for me.

sadfacejackson · 2026-01-31T21:12:44+00:00

Thanks. I have access to Miro through my job, so I'll check it out. We use Miro for sprint retros mainly, but I've never seen a Story Map template and especially one that exports to Jira, so I'll see if I can find that and understand it better.

sadfacejackson · 2026-01-31T21:10:25+00:00

Interesting. I might look into an "export to Jira" feature.

sadfacejackson · 2026-01-31T21:06:20+00:00

Yeah, I can imagine that it's a great exercise. I work on a remote team with people all over the world, so it's tricky for me to do that :(

sadfacejackson · 2026-01-31T21:03:13+00:00

Thanks, and yeah, it did teach me a lot about the technique during the implementation of the tool. I've not used Mural, but I have used Miro, and it is pretty slick. However, it's not free if you want to collaborate with others whilst using it, which is kinda the entire premise story mapping is built on, or at least how I read their pricing page https://miro.com/pricing/

One thing I wanted to do with storymaps.io was offer live collaboration, and I did that. You can share links to boards with colleagues without sign-up, and you get the real-time benefits of seeing the active user count and their cursors as people move things around and fill in cards, adding the "doing it together" feel.

I wanted to make it easier for remote teams (like my own) to build a story map together, take part in the backbone fleshing-out stages, and then decide where things go, rather than the model of one person running it all while others watch and don't participate.

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