How to evaluate your user stories using the INVEST criteria

User Stories are a popular technique for capturing the functional requirements of a digital product. The goal of User Stories is to provide a clear and concise description of the desired behavior from the end user’s perspective. As User Stories play a crucial role in the development process, it is important to ensure that they are well-crafted and correctly written. One of the ways to do this is by using the INVEST criteria.

At Towerhouse Studio, the INVEST criteria isn’t just theory—it’s a non-negotiable part of our daily development process. We’ve built hundreds of digital products, and we know from experience that a project’s success often hinges on the quality of its user stories. In this guide, we’re sharing the exact framework our expert studios use to ensure clarity, efficiency, and success from sprint one.

The INVEST criteria is a widely accepted method for evaluating the quality of User Stories. It provides a set of guidelines for writing stories that are independent, negotiable, valuable, estimable, small, and testable. It helps ensure that User Stories are easy to understand, estimate, and develop, which can lead to a more efficient and effective development process.

History of the INVEST criteria

The INVEST criteria was first introduced by Bill Wake in his 2002 book “Extreme Programming Explored.” It was created to help software developers write high-quality User Stories that would make the development process more efficient and effective. Over the years, the INVEST criteria have evolved and become widely adopted in the agile development community.

INVEST is an acronym for Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable. These are the six key components of the INVEST criteria that must be present for a User Story to be considered high quality.

What is the INVEST criteria?

The INVEST criteria provide a set of guidelines for writing high-quality User Stories. Here is a brief explanation of each component:

Independent: User Stories should be written so they can be developed and tested independently of other stories. This allows for greater flexibility in the development process and helps to avoid unnecessary dependencies.
Negotiable: User Stories should be written to allow for negotiation between the development team and the customer. This negotiation process is a key advantage of our nearshore team model, ensuring the final product meets the customer’s needs.
Valuable: User Stories should provide value to the end user. This value can be in the form of a new feature, an improvement to an existing feature, or a bug fix. Ultimately, the goal is to build an exceptional product. You can see examples of the valuable features we’ve built in our portfolio of work.
Estimable: User Stories should be written in a way that allows the development team to estimate the amount of effort required to complete them.
Small: User Stories should be small enough to be completed within a single iteration of the development process. This helps ensure that the development process remains focused and efficient.
Testable: User Stories should be written to allow testing to be performed at the end of the development process. This helps ensure the story is complete and meets the customer’s requirements.

Examples of correctly written User Stories

Here are a few examples of correctly written User Stories that adhere to the INVEST criteria:

1. As a customer, I want to search for products by category so that I can find the products I am looking for more easily.

This User Story is independent, negotiable, valuable, estimable, small, and testable. It provides value to the end user by allowing them to search for products more easily. It can be estimated by the development team and can be tested at the end of the development process.

2. As a salesperson, I want to view a list of my customers so that I can keep track of my customer relationships.

This User Story is independent, negotiable, valuable, estimable, small, and testable. It provides value to the salesperson by allowing them to keep track of their customer relationships. It can be estimated by the development team and can be tested at the end of the development process.

Examples of incorrectly written User Stories

Here are a few examples of User Stories that do not adhere to the INVEST criteria:

1. As a customer, I want the website to have a new layout and design so that it looks more modern.

This User Story is not independent as it requires changes to be made to the entire website. It is also not easily estimable as it is too broad and could require significant effort to complete.

2. As a salesperson, I want to view all of the company’s financial information so that I can make better business decisions.

This User Story is not negotiable as it requests access to sensitive information. It is also not easily testable as it requires access to sensitive financial information.

From a Perfect User Story to an Exceptional Product

The INVEST criteria is a powerful framework for evaluating User Stories. At Towerhouse Studio, this level of detail and commitment to quality isn’t just a recommendation—it’s the foundation of how our specialized studios operate.

We’ve structured our teams into specialized studios to ensure deep expertise for every type of digital product. The principles in this article are applied daily by our:

Mobile Studio

Building high-performance native iOS & Android applications where every feature is meticulously planned and executed.

Web Apps Studio

Developing scalable and robust web applications, from complex SaaS platforms to enterprise-level software.

Design (UI/UX) Studio

Ensuring that every user story translates into an intuitive, engaging, and beautiful user experience.

We also have dedicated studios for complex WordPress projects and cutting-edge AI/ML solutions.

Does your project require this level of technical excellence? Let’s talk about how the right studio can make all the difference.

Explore Our Studios