Executing a User Story

In this article, you will learn how to execute a User Story and what rules you have to follow.

Evgeniya Graich avatar
Written by Evgeniya Graich
Updated over a week ago

Once you start executing a User Story, you will see the following screen: 

The User Story execution screen has a few parts:


Can you confirm the User Story is working?

Depending on the result of your execution, you should choose one of the following options:

  • "Yes" if you have tested the User Story thoroughly and it works as described.

  • "No" if the tested User Story does not work as expected. In this case, we recommend submitting a bug report following the general rules of bug reporting if in scope and not listed under "Known Bugs". (here: an existing user is not able to login).

  • "Not possible to test" if you can not test the given User Story. Please describe the reason for being blocked in the comment field. This is often the case due to technical reasons or missing instructions. For example, if there’re no login credentials available, you can’t test this User Story.


Your comment

Please describe here what you did to test the User Story. In Your comment, you should include:

  • Summary of what you did in 2-3 sentences.

  • Highlight the main steps (not all).

Let's see now examples of how proper comments should look like for Yes, No, and Not possible to test executions.

Execution: Yes

If you submit the User Story as ‘Yes’, please provide a few details about what exactly you did to confirm that the given function works as expected. Please refrain from copying-pasting the text of the User Story or leaving comments like ‘Passed’ or ‘It works’ – more details are required here otherwise your execution will be rejected.

Another important note is that your comment should be directly connected to the given User Story and could not be applicable to any other User Story in the test (e.g. saying ‘I followed the given instructions’ is insufficient).

Imagine that we have a User Story: As a user, I can open the Become a Tester page from the Header of the website. And you have this outcome:

As we can see in the video, the User Story is working, we selected "Yes" as execution, and now it's time to write a comment.

Example of a good comment: I clicked on the "Become a Tester" button in the Header of the website, and after that I was redirected to the "Become a Tester" page. This page opened without any problems.

Example of a bad comment: I was able to open the page.

Execution: No

If you submit the User Story as ‘No’, please describe the bug that you’ve encountered according to the general rules on our platform. If the bug is in scope for the test and is not in the ‘Known Bugs’ list, please submit a bug report as well.

Imagine again that we have a User Story: As a user, I can open the Become a Tester page from the Header of the website. And you have this outcome:

As we can see now, after clicking on the "Become A Tester" button, nothing will happen. The page is not opened. So, in this case, we selected "No" as the execution and we should write a comment.

Example of a good comment: After I clicked on the "Become a Tester" button in the header of the website, no reaction occurred. There was no redirection, and the "Become a Tester" page did not open. The button is blocked from clicking.

Example of a bad comment: The user story fails. I was not able to open this page.

Execution: Not possible to test

If you submit the User Story as ‘Not possible to test’, please provide a detailed description of why you are not able to execute the given User Story and how you’ve encountered this problem.

Imagine that we have now a User Story: As a user, I can change slides in the Our Freelance Testers section of the Become a Tester page. And you have this outcome:

As we can see in this case, after trying to open the Test IO website, only a blank (white) page is shown and you are not able to execute this User Story. In this case, we select "Not possible to test" as execution and we need to write a comment.

Example of a good comment: When I tried to open the Test IO website, only a blank (white) page was shown to me. The same happened even after a page refresh, so I am blocked from testing this user story.

Example of a bad comment: I am not able to test this user story.


Upload attachments

Every User Story execution requires an attachment to be uploaded. Please follow the following rules for User Story attachments:

  • For every User Story execution, it’s mandatory to attach a short screencast (no longer than 15 seconds) that shows the result of the execution.

  • Every attachment should be created exclusively for each User Story execution and must not be used multiple times.

  • General attachment requirements, Date and Time specific rules, Screencast-specific rules, and Screencast-specific rules for Streaming devices from the Bug Report Attachments article also apply to the User Story Execution attachment rules.


Device/Browser used

Please test User Stories with the device that is displayed as your requested device. Make sure that the selected device/browser corresponds with the device/browser shown in the attachment.


How long did the execution take? (in minutes) (optional)

Here you can input the number (in minutes) how much did you take for the User Story execution. And as it is mentioned, this is optional.


Linked bug (optional)

When you cannot confirm a User Story or you are blocked, because you cannot reach the right feature area, it is very likely you discovered a bug.

When there is already a submitted bug report in the test that fits, please use the dropdown to search for it and link it to the User Story. This will help the customer to understand the User Story execution and the bug better.

When there is no bug reported yet (and it's also not listed under "Known Bugs") we recommend you submit a new bug first and then finish the User Story execution.

Hint: The button "Submit bug" opens in a new tab, so you can create the bug report and then go back to your unsubmitted User Story.

You can only link bugs, when the User Story is not confirmed, and find features of the same test cycle, that belong to the same feature as the User Story.


Buttons "Submit" and "Cancel"

At the bottom of the User Story execution screen, you will have the possibility to Submit a User Story when you are done with it, or to Cancel it. Keep in mind that if you submit the User Story execution, you will not be able anymore to Edit or Delete the User Story.

Also, please submit your User Story execution only when you've tested the User Story, otherwise your execution will be rejected.

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