User needs and user stories

User needs

User needs are what we call the task a person comes to a website or service to do.

Why we need this

We write user needs to understand what a page of content needs to accomplish. If you can complete the following sentence with a strong verb, you’ve got a good start.

As a (user)
I want to (do something)
So that I can (how the need fits into the person’s life)

If you get this foundation agreed between the person writing the page and the subject matter expert (SME), it’s simple to write great content for SF.gov.

User story

After you get your user need agreed, you will need to write acceptance criteria.

User need + acceptance criteria = user story.

Acceptance criteria are the boxes we need to check before we know the user need is “done”. It’s frequently when the user understands how something works or knows where to go to get or do a thing.

As an immigrant
I want to talk to an immigration attorney
So that I can stay in the US, vote, get a better job, avoid deportation, and protect my family.

We know it's done when the user:
- knows how to contact immigration legal services
- knows how to get help paying for their application
- knows where services are available in their language

​or

As an event promoter in San Francisco
I want to get a permit for my outdoor event
So that I can hold the event.

We know it's done when the user:
- gets the permit (or understands why the permit was denied)
- knows what day and time the permit is good for
- understands how loud their event can be