When crafting user stories to document what tasks or Jobs to be done a user might be doing in a process or website or app, typically you may see a story similar to this:
As a {user} I want to sign in so that {goal}
Sometimes I’ve seen user stories where it just says a user wants to sign in without a goal context.
My question here is — do users really care about signing in? Why are they signing in at all?
I’ve often thought that signing in seems like a system or process problem, or even a business problem, not a user one.
The user story should focus on the job at hand, or goal; not how to use an app.
But what if I want, or need to put this information in?
Then, the common daily tasks should be grouped together where possible; however such processes should not be higher in priority than key customer goals. Booking a ticket is far more important than signing in. Finding a hotel near the train station is more important than signing in.
Prioritise your user stories by the users’ goals, not the system, business needs; and ask yourself – why is the user signing in in the first place?