Example mapping
Example mapping is a short workshop devised by Matt Wynne in which a team examines one user story with four colours of index card: a story card, rule cards for the conditions it must obey, example cards for each rule, and question cards for what nobody can yet answer. The result shows whether the story is ready to build.
The longer version
The story sits on a yellow card at the top. Beneath it, blue cards hold the rules, such as 'free shipping applies above a set order value'. Under each rule go green cards, each naming one concrete example in a short title such as 'the one where the basket is exactly on the threshold'. Anything the group cannot settle goes on a red card instead of being argued, while the rule it concerns keeps its blue card, and someone takes the question away to find out.
The map is read by its shape at the end. A pile of red cards says the story is not understood and needs more work before a sprint takes it. A rule with a dozen examples is probably several rules, and a story with too many rules is a candidate for splitting. A handful of rules with clear examples and few questions is ready. The green titles are expanded into full Given/When/Then scenarios or acceptance criteria afterwards, often by the developer and the tester once the session is over.
Wynne introduced the technique on the Cucumber blog in December 2015, and it grew out of the behaviour-driven development community. He suggests about 25 minutes for a well-understood, well-sized story, and the session is usually run as a Three Amigos conversation, with a business, a development and a testing view in the room.
Common questions
What are the four colours in example mapping?
Yellow cards hold the story, blue cards hold the rules, green cards hold the examples of each rule, and red cards hold the open questions. The colours let a group see at a glance where the understanding is thin.
How long does an example mapping session take?
A session takes about 25 minutes per story, as Wynne suggests, for a story the group already understands reasonably well. If time runs out with the map still full of red cards, that is the result, and the story goes back for more work before a sprint takes it.
Who attends an example mapping session?
A small group attends, usually a product owner, a developer and a tester. The person who knows the business rules matters most, because without an answer to hand every rule card collects red questions where its green examples should be.
What is the difference between example mapping and Three Amigos?
Three Amigos is the practice of business, development and testing views discussing a story together. Example mapping is one structured way to run that conversation, using cards so that it produces rules, examples and questions someone can write down.
What do you do with an example map afterwards?
The rules and examples become acceptance criteria or Given/When/Then scenarios, the red questions are assigned to someone, and the story is taken into a sprint, split, or sent back, according to what the map shows.
Bug reports that arrive ready to triage.
Collect replay, console, network and browser context with the Free plan.