Back to Forum

Error Messages in User Stories for Countries with a Language Barrier

Last post 04:12 am July 11, 2017 by Ian Mitchell
2 replies
Prakash Dayani
03:40 pm July 10, 2017

HI Guys,

I am soon going to attend the certification and I have been walking around this website for about a week learning different things. One thing on which I need you guys to help me out is clearly understanding the use of error messages in user stories.

I have read your community articles and there are skewed opinions about. I read to the extent that the error handling should be a part of the "Acceptance Criteria" and saw a few examples as well. The examples were basically of 2 types.

A : With a reference to an error message and

B :  With no reference to error messages

A : With a reference to an error message  - In such examples the error criteria was defined and was pointing out to another document to get the exact error message.

Sample  - If "Last Name" is blank, do not allow user to enter data in other fields; display an error message. (Refer to Exception document, section Registration 1.2 for message.)

B :  With no reference to error messages - In such examples only the error criteria was defined with no reference to any document.

Now I have 2 questions for which I will highly be obliged for getting an answer from you guys.

 

Question 1  - Does this make  any sense at all to create a separate document for error messages. IMO it clearly disrupts the principle of not focusing on comprehensive documentation?

Question 2 -  Are we expecting the developers in the scrum team to be proficient enough in "English Language" and are expecting them to write the messages on their own ? There are may countries in which you will find that the product owners and the scrum master are proficient in "English" but the development team is not. So if they start writing the error messages then they would make a mess out of it. Example  - they may write  "Your detail not save" instead of writing  " Your details could not be saved" . In such an event wont it make sense to write the actual error message in  " Acceptance Criteria" ?

Question 3 -  If we are saying that the error message should not be written in  acceptance criteria then wont it create unnecessary iterations where the wrongly formatted messages could be corrected ? There could also be a possibility that the scrum team needs to speak to the PO every time they need to define an error message in an application. Wont it also make the task tough for a QA as he would have nothing to refer to?

 

I hope  that I am not sounding stupid in asking these questions. Seeking your expert opinions please.

 

Regards

Prakash

 

 

 

 

 

Timothy Baffa
06:32 pm July 10, 2017

If exception processing is part of the proper function of a PBI, then that behavior should be captured in that item's acceptance criteria.

 

Regarding your questions on how to manage error message content, look to the Scrum pillar of Transparency.   What approach would support everyone's similar understanding of the story and how it should behave?   What practices would help mitigate future confusion or misunderstanding about the PBI?

 

Ian Mitchell
04:12 am July 11, 2017

A user story is a placeholder for a conversation about a possible requirement. Either of the scenarios you describe might be appropriate for the story at different times in its life. The user story to be concerned about is the one which is not talked about and which does not evolve through collaboration.

By posting on our forums you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.

Please note that the first and last name from your Scrum.org member profile will be displayed next to any topic or comment you post on the forums. For privacy concerns, we cannot allow you to post email addresses. All user-submitted content on our Forums may be subject to deletion if it is found to be in violation of our Terms of Use. Scrum.org does not endorse user-submitted content or the content of links to any third-party websites.

Terms of Use

Scrum.org may, at its discretion, remove any post that it deems unsuitable for these forums. Unsuitable post content includes, but is not limited to, Scrum.org Professional-level assessment questions and answers, profanity, insults, racism or sexually explicit content. Using our forum as a platform for the marketing and solicitation of products or services is also prohibited. Forum members who post content deemed unsuitable by Scrum.org may have their access revoked at any time, without warning. Scrum.org may, but is not obliged to, monitor submissions.