User Story Splitting Techniques
Product owner keeps writing massive stories that we estimate at 20+ points. What are practical techniques to convince them to split these down? INVEST criteria doesn't help when the feature genuinely seems atomic to them.
Use the SPIDR model: Spikes, Paths, Interfaces, Data, Rules. Example: "User can search products" splits to: (1) Search by name only, (2) Add filters (category, price), (3) Add sorting, (4) Add pagination, (5) Search performance optimization.
Each is deployable and valuable. Show your PO this pattern and they'll never write a 20-pointer again.
Workflow steps pattern. "User can checkout" becomes: Step 1 - View cart, Step 2 - Enter shipping, Step 3 - Enter payment, Step 4 - Confirm order. Each step is a story. Splits naturally and POs understand it immediately.
Simple/Complex split. Build the happy path first (Simple), edge cases and validations next (Complex). "User registration" splits to: (1) Basic email/password signup, (2) Email verification, (3) Password strength rules, (4) Social login. Delivers value faster.
Defer performance/polish. MVP story delivers working feature. Follow-up stories add caching, animations, accessibility. We used to argue about splitting, now we just ask: "What's the simplest version users could actually use?" That's story 1.
CRUD split if all else fails. Create, Read, Update, Delete as 4 stories. Not ideal but better than a 40-point monster. At least you can ship Read functionality while Update is still being built.