User story map
A user story map is a 2D arrangement of user stories where the X-axis is the user's journey and the Y-axis is priority, used to plan releases and surface feature gaps.
In depth
Story mapping was developed by Jeff Patton as a corrective to flat backlog lists. The horizontal axis traces a user's narrative end-to-end (browse → add to cart → checkout → confirmation); the vertical axis stacks stories by release or priority.
The result is a 2D map where you can slice horizontally to define a release scope. The technique is especially good at revealing missing stories — gaps in the journey that a flat backlog hides.
OpenCharts supports story maps on the whiteboard using sticky-note-style nodes plus group containers for releases. AI-assisted generation from a product description proposes a starting map you can refine.
Also known as
Want to put this concept to work in OpenCharts?
Build a story mapRelated terms
User flow
A user flow is a diagram that maps the steps a user takes through a product or service to accomplish a specific goal, including screens, actions, and decision points.
Customer journey map
A customer journey map is a visual diagram that depicts a customer's interactions with a product or service over time, including their actions, thoughts, emotions, and pain points at each stage.
Kanban board
A Kanban board is a visual workflow tool that organizes tasks into columns representing stages of work, used to manage flow, limit work-in-progress, and surface bottlenecks.