![\"specmaplogo\"](\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/03\/SpecMapLogo.png\")
<\/a> <\/span><\/h3>\nSee it in the Marketplace: https:\/\/marketplace.visualstudio.com\/items?itemName=techtalk.specmap<\/a><\/p>\nStory Maps provide a great\u00a0tool for visualizing a user’s activities and the hierarchy of stories your team will need to deliver on to have the greatest impact.\u00a0SpecMap brings Story Maps to Team Services and your Work Items are the Story Map elements.<\/p>\n
What are Story Maps?<\/h5>\n
From SpecMap’s documentation<\/a>: A typical story map has a hierarchic structure involving user activities and user stories. The story maps tell stories from the user’s perspective and represents the user’s progress through the system as a series of activities. The first step is to describe the user’s progress through the system using a narrative flow that can be depicted using user activities.<\/p>\nOnce these user stories have been discussed and defined by your team, the next step is to prioritize development to deliver the biggest impact possible over the next development cycle. User stories are assigned to activities and arranged vertically by priority (higher priority items at the top). Finally the story map is divided into horizontal slices, with each slice typically representing a single iteration or sprint.<\/p>\n
![\"specmap1\"](\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/03\/SpecMap1.png\")
<\/a>Conceptual Story Map showing User Journey axis, Priority axis, User Activities, and Sprint Slices<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\nSpecMap takes what would normally be done with sticky notes\u00a0or whiteboards and allows you to create Story Maps directly inside Team Services, linking the items to your backlog<\/span><\/p>\n![\"specmap2\"](\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/03\/SpecMap2.png\")
<\/a>SpecMap translates physical Story Map techniques into backlog solution managed directly in VSTS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\nGetting Started<\/a> with SpecMap is easy, and is definitely worth a look!<\/p>\nBoard Group<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n![\"bourdgrouplogo\"](\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/03\/BourdGroupLogo.png\")
<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\nSee it in the Marketplace: https:\/\/marketplace.visualstudio.com\/items?itemName=ottostreifel.board-group<\/a><\/p>\nI’m a big fan of KanBan boards, and Board Group gives me a small optimization I have always thought is a good idea, the ability to modify the lane and column of a Work Item from the work item form. It also adds the ability to change the lane and column from the board without dragging and dropping. Definitely check this extension out if you’re a KanBan board user!<\/p>\n
![\"boardgroup1\"](\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/devops\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2017\/03\/BoardGroup1.png\")
<\/a>New Work Item form section showing assigned board, and the active column\/lane<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n
Story Maps provide a great\u00a0tool for visualizing a user’s activities and the hierarchy of stories your team will need to deliver on to have the greatest impact.\u00a0SpecMap brings Story Maps to Team Services and your Work Items are the Story Map elements.<\/p>\n
What are Story Maps?<\/h5>\n
From SpecMap’s documentation<\/a>: A typical story map has a hierarchic structure involving user activities and user stories. The story maps tell stories from the user’s perspective and represents the user’s progress through the system as a series of activities. The first step is to describe the user’s progress through the system using a narrative flow that can be depicted using user activities.<\/p>\n Once these user stories have been discussed and defined by your team, the next step is to prioritize development to deliver the biggest impact possible over the next development cycle. User stories are assigned to activities and arranged vertically by priority (higher priority items at the top). Finally the story map is divided into horizontal slices, with each slice typically representing a single iteration or sprint.<\/p>\n SpecMap takes what would normally be done with sticky notes\u00a0or whiteboards and allows you to create Story Maps directly inside Team Services, linking the items to your backlog<\/span><\/p>\n Getting Started<\/a> with SpecMap is easy, and is definitely worth a look!<\/p>\n See it in the Marketplace: https:\/\/marketplace.visualstudio.com\/items?itemName=ottostreifel.board-group<\/a><\/p>\n I’m a big fan of KanBan boards, and Board Group gives me a small optimization I have always thought is a good idea, the ability to modify the lane and column of a Work Item from the work item form. It also adds the ability to change the lane and column from the board without dragging and dropping. Definitely check this extension out if you’re a KanBan board user!<\/p>\n![\"specmap1\"](\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/05\/SpecMapLogo.png\")
<\/a><\/a>Board Group<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/a>