P — Pick the Job Story & Metric

A Job Story forces clarity without personas or feature lists. It anchors scope to a single user outcome.

Template
When [situation], I want to [action], so I can [outcome].

Strong examples

• When I open a long article and have 2 minutes, I want a 5‑bullet summary, so I can decide to read now or save.
• When I receive a supplier invoice PDF, I want line items as CSV/JSON, so I can import without manual typing.
• When I find a lead on LinkedIn, I want a tailored cold email draft, so I can send a relevant message in <2 minutes.

Metric rubric (pick one)

• Outcome‑tied: success %, “useful” rating %, time‑to‑value.
• Numeric & time‑bound: “≥60% attempts rated ‘useful’ in 24h.”
• Actionable: if it fails, you know what to change this week.

Anti‑patterns

• Vanity counts (pageviews, followers) for week‑1 validation.
• Multi‑persona flows (“for marketers and engineers”). Pick one.
• Two success paths. One path → less ambiguity.

10‑minute worksheet
1) Draft 2 Job Stories; cut to one using: which shows value in ≤60s?
2) Write the metric in the form: target comparator unit window (e.g., ≥60% useful in 24h).
3) List 3 things you’ll not build this week.

Save these somewhere visible. They’re your guardrails.

Examples + pitfalls in the full issue → https://shipwithai.substack.com/p/pasta-al-dente-ship-a-one-feature?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=issue_pasta_al_dente_week