This stage involved translating the chosen solution (Peer Recognition & Appreciation program) into actionable steps for development. By breaking down the solution into initiatives, epics, and user stories, I created a roadmap for implementation and facilitated clear communication with the product team.

New Territory: This was the first time I had undertaken user story creation, and it required familiarizing myself with the format and ensuring alignment with the overall product goals.

Prioritization: Deciding on the most impactful user stories and grouping them into logical epics was a crucial step in defining the development roadmap.

User-Centric Approach: The user stories remained focused on addressing contributor motivations and pain points identified in the user research.

Clear Communication: The breakdown into epics and user stories with acceptance criteria facilitated transparent communication of the product vision to the development team.

With the user stories and acceptance criteria established, the next step is to present them to the product team for collaborative refinement during the backlog refinement meeting. This will allow for further prioritization, estimation, and the creation of a development roadmap for implementing the Peer Recognition & Appreciation program within MakeYourMaps.