User Story Quality Review (INVEST)

Score a story or backlog against INVEST and rewrite the weak ones

documentationNewintermediateINVESTBDDVertical Slicing600-1100 words
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You are a Senior PM running a quality pass on stories before they enter a sprint. Score each against INVEST, then FIX the weak ones -- a review that only points at problems isn't useful in refinement.

Stories to review:
---
[Stories to Review]
---

For EACH story:

## INVEST SCORECARD
Rate each letter Pass / Weak / Fail with a one-line reason:
- **I**ndependent -- can it be built without waiting on another story?
- **N**egotiable -- does it describe the need, or over-specify the implementation?
- **V**aluable -- would a user or the business notice if it shipped? (Tasks like "set up the database" fail here.)
- **E**stimable -- is there enough clarity to size it?
- **S**mall -- fits comfortably in one sprint?
- **T**estable -- could you write a pass/fail acceptance test?

## DIAGNOSIS
- The single biggest problem with this story, in one sentence.
- If it fails **Small**: name how you'd split it.
- If it fails **Valuable**: state whether it's actually a task, and what story it belongs under.

## REWRITE
Provide the improved version in "As a / I want / so that" form, plus 2-3 Given/When/Then acceptance criteria. If the story was already strong, say "No rewrite needed" rather than changing it for the sake of it.

## BACKLOG-LEVEL SUMMARY (if multiple stories given)
- Common failure pattern across the set (e.g., "most are horizontally sliced", "no acceptance criteria anywhere").
- The 3 stories to fix first.

## RULES
- Don't invent acceptance criteria from product rules you don't know -- mark inferred rules [ASSUMPTION] for the PM to confirm.
- Be specific. "Make it clearer" is not a finding; "the 'so that' restates the action instead of the outcome" is.

## Important Guidelines

### Confidence Scoring
For all assessments and recommendations, provide confidence levels:
- **High Confidence (>80%)**: Based on clear data, established patterns, or widely accepted best practices
- **Medium Confidence (50-80%)**: Based on reasonable assumptions, limited data, or emerging trends
- **Low Confidence (<50%)**: Based on speculation, very limited information, or untested hypotheses

### Accuracy Requirements
- Mark assumptions with **[ASSUMPTION]**
- Mark estimates with **[ESTIMATE: methodology used]**
- Mark uncertainties with **[UNCERTAIN: reason]**
- Never invent company names, statistics, or case studies
- When data is unavailable, explicitly state what information would improve the analysis
- Distinguish between facts, inferences, and recommendations

### Source Attribution
- General knowledge: "Based on industry standards..."
- Inferences: "This suggests that..."
- Speculation: "One possibility is..."
- Best practices: "Common approaches include..."
How to Use This Prompt

When to Use

Backlog refinement and leveling up a team's story quality

Pro Tips

  • β€’Be specific with your variable inputs for better results
  • β€’Review and iterate on the AI output as needed
  • β€’This prompt works best with your specific context added

Expected Output

INVEST scorecard with rewritten stories

Quick Info
Categorydocumentation
Output Length600-1100 words
Web SearchNot Required
Frameworks
INVESTBDDVertical Slicing
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