User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product

by Jeff Patton

Get in the habit of writing down a little about your idea before explaining it. If you’re using cards or sticky notes, write down a few words about your idea immediately after thinking it. Explain your idea to others as you point to the sticky note or card. Use big gestures. Draw more pictures. Tell stories. Place the card or sticky into a shared workspace where everyone can see, point to, add to, and move it around. Hopefully, there will be lots of other ideas from you and others in this growing pile. I find that when I’m doing my best to listen to others, what they’re saying causes me to think of other ideas. I used to try to hold those ideas in my head and wait for a moment to inject them into the conversation, resorting to outright interruption if the time didn’t come soon enough. But then I realized I’d stopped listening to the person who was talking, as my limited brainpower was focused on recalling my great idea. Today, I simply scribble the idea on a sticky note and set it aside to wait for a better point in the conversation to inject it. Somehow writing it pops it out of my head so I can focus on what I’m hearing. And reading it from the sticky later helps me recall my idea and explain it.