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What is a user story used for?

A user story is a method used e.g. in product design or UX design. They are short stories whose goal is to define user needs toward the product. They are written in the following format:

As a (user) I want (need) so that (goal to achieve).

User stories are built on personas: they reference how those personas behave, their needs, and potential concerns. With such scenarios we can map out the specific functionality our customers need: this lets us record individual site features in a way that is concise and understandable to everyone. An example user story for e-commerce could be the following sentence:

As a customer I want to be able to see the shipping cost for my items at the cart level, because shipping cost determines my purchase decision in a given store.

Well-written user stories will help cooperation with developers: through written stories we can verify what resources designing a feature will require from the IT team, or whether a given technology meets our business needs.