User Story Mapping

One key takeaway I have with the reading is the “correct” usage of card or sticky notes. It syntheses several points made in the chapters of reading. I’ve never been a fan of using sticky notes to organize ideas and thoughts before I take this class. I used to think of it as a fancy way to present “trivial” shared understanding. It took time aways from me, which could otherwise be used more effectively into producing deliverables (which the reading would call output). The reading has proven me wrong in both cases. One, there is no such thing as “trivial” shared understanding. It is not that I’ve never experienced miscommunication and misunderstanding in my past group work experience. Rather, it is that I’ve not attributed the cause into those long, tedious documents I’ve written. How can a stack of sticky notes be more explanatory than my detailed, well-structured documents? As it turns out, it can be (in fact, our group just experienced that in the studio space this Tuesday). I felt so enlightened as I read through the line ‘reorganizing cards together allows you to communicate without saying a word’. Exactly, that is how easy it should be. The other point is the distinction between output and outcome. For long, I have been result-oriented. It is so scary to think about I’m delivering less results compared to others. Therefore, the obsession with output sometimes can take away my willingness to pause and ponder about actual outcome, or impact, even though that is what truly matters. With that, I’ll remember for my class project, as well as other ones outside the class, that “the goal is to minimize the amount we build”.