User Story Slicing For Maximum Efficiency and Impact?

User Storie’s isn’t just documentation!

User stories are not just documentation of works to be done; it’s an invitation to discussion and to be delivered in a way that adds value to the products they should be Small enough to fit in one iteration (in a way that solves a customer problem), estimatable and can be tested independently.

Here comes the need to split the user story into other chunks so it can fulfill the mentioned points.

Let’s dive into the difference between Vertical vs. Horizontal User Story Slicing!

Vertical User Story Slicing 🍕

Dividing a feature into smaller, complete functionalities that cover all layers (UI, business logic, database).
So you can deliver end-to-end functionality in each slice.

Example: In an e-commerce app,

Slice#1: “As a user, I can browse items in a category.”

Slice#2: “As a user, I can sort items in a category.”

This includes UI, services, and database for each slice separately.

Horizontal User Story Slicing 🍅

Breaking down work by architectural layers (UI, database, etc.), focusing on one layer at a time.
Each slice focuses on a specific technical aspect.

Example: In the same app,

Slice#: “Develop the database schema for product categories,” focusing only on the database.

Slice#2: “Develop the Front-end for the product categories.

Key Differences 💡

1- Completeness: Vertical slices are complete features delivering value to the user, while horizontal slices might not be valuable on their own. 🚙 🍰

2- Integration: Vertical slicing ensures regular integration and helps in identifying issues early, whereas horizontal slicing might delay integration. 🚀

3- Feedback: Vertical slicing allows for faster feedback from users as each slice is a functional piece, unlike horizontal slices. 🛴

4- Risk: Vertical slices help in managing risk better by delivering small, complete features. Horizontal slices can sometimes hide risks until late in the project. 🚨

5- Focus: Vertical slicing keeps the focus on user needs and business value, while horizontal slicing is more about technical implementation. 🙋

In practice, most agile teams prefer vertical slicing as it aligns well with agile principles of incremental delivery and user-centered design. 🪜

However, horizontal slicing is often needed in situations where establishing a strong foundation for the application is critical, especially in the early stages of development.