I am a Head of a BA Team and we are working with a new client. The client wants us to work their way, which is different to how we normally do. Thats not a problem, as every now and then Clients ask for this.
The project is to design a new digital website for an eCommerce platform. Again we have done plenty of these.
Normally we work in a triangle where you work in this order:
1. High level requirements - User Stories have enough information for Designers to understand what is requried but NOT solutionising. User Stories are not at this stage enough for developers to beuld from as they will require all CTA buttons/links etc to be lsited and where they go to or data is retrieved from (these will be listed out in the third stage).
2. Design start work - They build the design and I get that signed off by the stakeholders
3 User Stories are completed - based on the lower level more precise detail - inlcuding listing out all CTA buttons, linksand any shown data etc.
The client though wants us to work with requirements being gathered in full first, but not solutionising (i.e.saying exactly how the design should look). The Design team of UX/Ui designers then create the design of how it will actually look and work based on all of the detail in the User Story. Developers will then work from those User Stories.
It's a subtle difference but how do you write the User Story requirements/Acceptence Criteria without solutionising? If you don't get Design invovled at that stage (which we aren't allowed to) then I dont see how you can write your User Stories without solutionising?