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Video Description
If your requirements list is full of technical gibberish that only developers understand, you're missing out on the collaboration and trust-building that makes everything else work. This video explains why story-shaped requirements beat technical task lists every time.
What you'll learn:
- The readability test: can outsiders understand your list?
- What technical gibberish looks like (real examples)
- What story-shaped requirements look like (same work, reframed)
- The three functions: trust-building, validation, flexibility
- Goals vs. implementations: why this distinction matters
- Warning signs that a requirement doesn't tell a story
- The jazz analogy: knowing the tune vs. writing out the solo
Key insights:
- Story-shaped requirements invite collaboration; technical requirements shut people out
- Each requirement is like a scene: protagonist, intention, outcome
- Write down the goal, discover the implementation
- If you can't answer "who benefits?" — it's not a story
- Scope creep happens when nobody's sure what "done" looks like
- The goal stays fixed while the implementation can flex
Previous Video: Your Requirements List Is a Negotiating Tool Next Video: Technical Gibberish vs. Human-Readable Requirements ► Full Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGxFXI4dC2shCJwhTY-P2726zts26_AKF
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What's the worst example of technical gibberish you've seen on a requirements list? Drop it in the comments!
Chapters
- 0:00 Requirements Should Tell a Story
- 0:49 The Readability Test
- 1:13 What Technical Gibberish Looks Like
- 2:08 What Stories Look Like
- 2:56 Why This Matters
- 3:20 The Three Functions of Story-Shaped Requirements
- 4:06 Technical Requirements Shut People Out
- 4:58 Goals vs. Implementations
- 5:26 Why Goals Enable Flexibility
- 6:08 The Music Analogy
- 6:41 The Backlog Should Tell a Story
- 7:18 When Requirements Don't Tell a Story
- 8:07 Try This Exercise
- 8:45 Key Takeaways
Video Info
- Duration: 9:34
- Published: December 01, 2025
