Guides creation of user story maps to visualize journeys, define walking skeletons, and slice releases for MVP scoping and Agile planning.
npx claudepluginhub melodic-software/claude-code-plugins --plugin requirements-elicitationThis skill is limited to using the following tools:
User Story Mapping is Jeff Patton's technique for organizing user stories into a visual map that shows the complete user experience and helps slice work into releases.
Creates user story maps organizing backlogs by activities, prioritized tasks, walking skeleton, and outcome-based release slices. Outputs story-map.md and prioritization.md.
Generates user story maps from synthesized requirements with backbone activities, walking skeleton, and release slices. Outputs Mermaid diagrams, YAML, or Markdown for visualizing user journeys.
Generates prioritized user stories with Given/When/Then acceptance criteria, story point estimates, epic story mapping, and MoSCoW prioritization for sprint planning and backlogs.
Share bugs, ideas, or general feedback.
User Story Mapping is Jeff Patton's technique for organizing user stories into a visual map that shows the complete user experience and helps slice work into releases.
Keywords: story map, user story map, backbone, walking skeleton, MVP, release planning, user journey, story slicing, Jeff Patton, Agile discovery
Use this skill when:
TIME / USER JOURNEY →
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
BACKBONE (Activities) │ Search │ Browse │ Purchase │ Track
│ │ │ │
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
WALKING SKELETON │ Basic │ List │ Cart + │ Order
(Minimum Path) │ Search │ View │ Checkout │ Status
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Release 1 │ Filters │ Details │ Payment │ Email
│ │ Page │ Options │ Notify
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Release 2 │ Saved │ Compare │ Wishlist │ Tracking
│ Searches │ Items │ │ Map
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Release 3 (Nice-to-have)│ AI │ AR │ One-Click │ Delivery
│ Suggest │ Preview │ Buy │ Photos
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| Backbone | High-level user activities in sequence (left-to-right = time) |
| Walking Skeleton | Minimum functionality for each activity (first viable path) |
| User Tasks | Stories under each activity, ordered by priority (top-to-bottom) |
| Release Slices | Horizontal lines grouping stories into releases |
| Personas | Different user types may have different paths |
Identify high-level activities the user performs:
backbone_questions:
- "What does the user do first?"
- "What happens next in their journey?"
- "What are all the major activities?"
- "Is there a natural sequence or flow?"
For each backbone activity, what's the minimum viable implementation?
walking_skeleton_criteria:
- Enables the user to complete the activity (barely)
- End-to-end slice through the system
- Testable and demonstrable
- Foundation for incremental enhancement
Under each activity, list user tasks/stories:
task_placement:
vertical_order: "Priority (most important at top)"
horizontal_alignment: "Which activity does this belong to?"
dependencies: "Does this need something from another column?"
Group stories into releases with clear user value:
release_criteria:
release_1_mvp:
- Walking skeleton + minimal enhancements
- "What can we build and ship first?"
- Validates core value proposition
release_2:
- Improves on MVP based on feedback
- Adds important but not critical features
future_releases:
- Nice-to-have features
- Competitive differentiation
- Edge cases and polish
The /story-map command generates Mermaid flowcharts:
%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': { 'primaryColor': '#e1f5fe'}}}%%
flowchart LR
subgraph Backbone["User Journey (Backbone)"]
A1[Search] --> A2[Browse] --> A3[Purchase] --> A4[Track]
end
subgraph R0["Walking Skeleton"]
A1 --- S1[Basic Search]
A2 --- S2[List View]
A3 --- S3[Cart + Checkout]
A4 --- S4[Order Status]
end
subgraph R1["Release 1"]
S1 --- R1S1[Filters]
S2 --- R1S2[Details Page]
S3 --- R1S3[Payment Options]
S4 --- R1S4[Email Notify]
end
story_map:
title: "E-commerce Platform"
personas: ["shopper", "power-user"]
backbone:
- id: search
name: "Search Products"
walking_skeleton: "Basic keyword search"
- id: browse
name: "Browse Catalog"
walking_skeleton: "List view with thumbnails"
releases:
- name: "MVP"
stories:
- activity: search
stories: ["Basic Search", "Filters"]
- activity: browse
stories: ["List View", "Details Page"]
1. Load synthesized requirements from /discover
2. Identify user activities from functional requirements
3. Map requirements to backbone activities
4. Prioritize within each activity
5. Slice into releases
# Elicit requirements first
/requirements-elicitation:discover "e-commerce platform"
# Create story map from requirements
/requirements-elicitation:story-map --domain "e-commerce"
# Export map to visualization
/requirements-elicitation:story-map --domain "e-commerce" --format mermaid
/story-map - Generate story maps from elicited requirements/journey-map - Customer journey visualization (complementary)/discover - Elicit requirements before mapping/gaps - Check for missing coverageFor detailed guidance:
External:
Last Updated: 2025-12-26