Requirements & User Story Templates

In Plain Language

Requirements templates capture user intent, functional boundaries, and statutory safety constraints in unambiguous, testable language. Use these four templates to author Given/When/Then user stories, detailed use cases, IEEE 830 baselined Software Requirements Specifications (SRS), and market-driven PRDs.

Unambiguous Requirements as Testable Design Inputs

Defects introduced in the requirements phase are 50x more expensive to resolve after deployment. These four templates ensure that every user need is framed with testable acceptance criteria, clear preconditions, and bidirectional traceability to design outputs and test protocols.

Requirements Templates#user-story

User Story & Acceptance Criteria (Gherkin)

A short description of what a user wants to accomplish and the exact scenarios that prove the feature works.

🎯 Primary PurposeCaptures user requirements from a persona perspective with testable Given/When/Then acceptance criteria.
⏱️ When to UseWhen defining iterative features during backlog refinement and sprint planning.
user-story.md (Boilerplate Markdown Starter)
GFM Markdown
# User Story: {{TITLE}}

- **Story Key**: US-{{ID}}
- **Persona**: [e.g. Clinical Practitioner | Compliance Auditor | Software Developer]
- **Story Points**: [1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8]

## 1. User Story Narrative
> **As a** {{Persona}},  
> **I want to** {{perform an action / access a capability}},  
> **So that** {{achieve a measurable business or clinical outcome}}.

## 2. Acceptance Criteria (Gherkin Format)
### Scenario 1: Successful execution
- **Given** {{precondition: e.g. the user is logged in as an auditor}}
- **When** {{action: e.g. the user clicks the ISO clause filter pill}}
- **Then** {{outcome: e.g. only matching ISO 13485 clauses appear in the table}}

### Scenario 2: Error or empty state handling
- **Given** {{precondition: e.g. no results match the search query}}
- **When** {{action: e.g. the user searches for a non-existent clause}}
- **Then** {{outcome: e.g. an accessible empty state message is displayed}}
Requirements Templates#use-case

Use Case Specification Template

A detailed step-by-step description of how a user interacts with the system, including what happens when things go wrong.

🎯 Primary PurposeModels detailed actor-system interactions, happy paths, exception flows, and precondition boundaries.
⏱️ When to UseWhen specifying complex multi-step workflows, transaction processing, or security handshakes.
use-case.md (Boilerplate Markdown Starter)
GFM Markdown
# Use Case: UC-{{ID}} — {{TITLE}}

- **Primary Actor**: {{User Role}}
- **Stakeholders**: {{Auditor, Operations Team}}
- **Trigger**: {{Action that initiates the use case}}

## 1. Preconditions
- {{Precondition 1: e.g. User has valid session token}}

## 2. Main Success Scenario (Happy Path)
1. Actor requests access to {{resource}}.
2. System validates authentication and role permissions.
3. System retrieves encrypted record from primary database.
4. System logs read event to immutable audit trail.
5. System displays decrypted record to actor.

## 3. Alternative & Exception Flows
- **2a. Invalid or expired token**:
  - 2a1. System redirects actor to login portal with session expiration alert.
- **3a. Record unavailable or deleted**:
  - 3a1. System returns 404 Not Found and logs diagnostic alert.
Requirements Templates#srs

Software Requirements Specification (SRS)

The definitive master specification listing every requirement a software product must fulfill.

🎯 Primary PurposeFormal IEEE 830-compliant document capturing all functional, interface, performance, and regulatory requirements.
⏱️ When to UseFor formal regulated product releases, FDA submissions, and contractor baseline agreements.
Regulated Mandate: FDA 21 CFR § 820.30(c) & IEEE 830 (Software Requirements Specification (SRS))
View Statutory Compliance Rule
srs.md (Boilerplate Markdown Starter)
GFM Markdown
# Software Requirements Specification: {{SYSTEM_NAME}}

- **Document ID**: SRS-{{VERSION}}-001
- **Standard**: IEEE 830-1998 / ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2018
- **Status**: BASELINED

## 1. Introduction
### 1.1 Purpose
{{Define the purpose of this SRS and its intended audience in plain English.}}

### 1.2 Product Scope
{{High-level overview of the software system and clinical / business benefits.}}

## 2. Overall Description
### 2.1 User Personas
- **P-01**: Software Engineer
- **P-02**: Quality / Compliance Auditor

## 3. Specific Functional Requirements
- **SRS-FR-001**: The system shall encrypt all sensitive patient data at rest using AES-256.
- **SRS-FR-002**: The system shall log all authentication attempts with timestamp and IP address.
- **SRS-FR-003**: The system shall enforce password complexity of minimum 12 characters.

## 4. Non-Functional Quality Requirements
- **Performance**: 95% of API requests shall respond within 200 milliseconds.
- **Availability**: System availability shall equal or exceed 99.9% uptime.
- **Accessibility**: 100% of user interfaces shall meet Section 508 & WCAG 2.1 AA criteria.
Requirements Templates#prd

Product Requirements Document (PRD)

A product document explaining what problem we are solving, who we are solving it for, and how we measure success.

🎯 Primary PurposeConnects business goals, user problems, target personas, feature roadmaps, and success telemetry metrics.
⏱️ When to UseAt the start of new product features or platform capability initiatives.
prd.md (Boilerplate Markdown Starter)
GFM Markdown
# Product Requirements Document: {{FEATURE_NAME}}

- **Product Manager**: {{Name}}
- **Target Release**: Q{{QUARTER}} YYYY
- **Status**: [DISCOVERY | REVIEW | READY FOR DEV]

## 1. Problem Statement & Opportunity
{{Describe the user problem and market opportunity in 2-3 plain-language sentences.}}

## 2. Target Personas & Use Scenarios
- **Primary Persona**: {{Name & Role}}
- **Pain Point**: {{Description of current friction}}

## 3. Feature Scope & Requirements
### Must-Have (P1)
- {{Core Feature 1}}
- {{Core Feature 2}}

### Should-Have (P2)
- {{Enhancement 1}}

## 4. Success Metrics & Telemetry
- **Primary Metric**: {{e.g. 50% reduction in time-to-first-commit for new hires}}
- **Secondary Metric**: {{e.g. Zero compliance audit findings during quarterly review}}
Try This with AI: Gherkin User Story Generator

Copy this prompt to generate testable user stories and SRS clauses.

Transform the following natural language clinical requirement into an IEEE 830-compliant SRS requirement and two Gherkin (Given/When/Then) user story acceptance criteria scenarios: 'Physicians need to securely review remote telemetry alerts on mobile devices without caching unencrypted data on local storage.'

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