User Stories - Problems that can't be made user stories [closed]

Question

I am from an XP background. I know the process very well and have solid working experience with it. I have found it to be the best way to develop software.

I find myself in the position of a process doctor of sorts and this creates much self examination and revaluation of my own understandings.

A very common thing I hear is that some work can’t be made into stories. I personally don’t believe this. The excuses include

1. Its too big (The developer will have nothing to show until the end of 5 weeks).
2. it’s a complicated algorithm or abstract concept (will take 5 weeks to write and nothing to show).

This question is to get hints, tips or suggestions.

I am looking for hints, tips, and suggestions as to how to address these and similar perceived problems (and more if you can think of them).

I will mark the answer that has the most information on how to get around users/developers who wont write stories and address their many excuses as to why not (I have only listed a few and there are many more).

Answer 1

Here are a few resources that I've collected over time and that might help:

• Patterns for Splitting User Stories
• Story Weight Reduction Toolkit
• Twenty Ways to Split Stories
• Ways to split user stories

Too big or too complicated, there is always a way to put a story on diet (maybe you won't obtain the final result in one iteration but this doesn't mean you can't and, well, there will be more than one iteration).