How to Write Better User Stories with Google NotebookLM

As a product manager, crafting clear and actionable user stories is critical for delivering value to your users. With AI tools such as Google NotebookLM, you can streamline this process, so that your stories are concise, user-focused, and align with your business goals.

By leveraging AI, you can address the “Five Ws and H” (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How) more effectively, saving time and improving collaboration with your team.

While there are many excellent LLM tools out there, personally, I use Google NotebookLM to write user stories. One of the advantages it offers is that you can upload multiple documents in different formats – even link to websites that have the technical or business details you want to weave into your stories – and use these as reference material for your stories.

Download: User Story Template

In addition, if you upload sample user stories or a user story template, NotebookLM will refer to this when creating your own user stories.

Here’s how to use it:

  1. Define the Problem: Start by inputting your product goals, user personas, and pain points into NotebookLM. This helps identify the “Who” (user) and “Why” (purpose) of your story.
  2. Draft the Story: Use it to generate a draft by asking, “Write a user story for [specific user] who wants to [achieve a goal].” NotebookLM will provide a clear “As a [user], I want to [action], so that [benefit]” format.
  3. Refine Details: Add more context about “When” and “Where” the story applies. For example, specify if it’s for a mobile app, has a specific feature, or must comply with a specific directive. What’s interesting is that it will suggest improvements to make your user story more specific and actionable.
  4. Validate and Iterate: Share the user story with your team for feedback. You can copy/paste in their feedback as an additional source, then re-generate the user stories.

Next Steps

By integrating AI tools into your workflow, you can focus on strategic decision-making while ensuring your user stories are well-structured, accurate, and provide value.

While AI tools can accelerate the process, always make sure to validate the output with your team. It’s easy to get tunnel vision when you’ve written a bunch of stories. A fresh set of eyes will see things you’ve missed.

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