State the Outcome
Describe what changes for someone when the work succeeds. Keep technologies and proposed features out of the sentence.
The question
What should be different when this works?
Do this
- Write one sentence beginning with “When this works…”
- Name the person or system that experiences the change.
- Attach an observation that would let you tell success from activity.
Example
- Request: “Build a checkout.” Outcome: “A visitor can pay for a basket and receive an order confirmation without creating an account.”
- The outcome immediately makes guest checkout relevant and saved cards irrelevant to the first version.
Ask next
- ?Who experiences the outcome?
- ?What would I observe if it worked?
- ?Which requested features do not serve that outcome?