## 8.4 Features and Stories Features and Stories are **a way to express the requirements** that a given solution should address. In general, they capture the description of new functionality (or updates to existing functionality) by starting at a high level and get broken down into smaller items as more detail is needed and understood. **Features represent services/functionalities** delivered by a solution to tackle the stakeholders’ needs, while **Stories are small pieces, corresponding to vertical slices of system’s desired functionality**. Implementing a feature is a more complex and lengthy process than implementing a story. This is because a **feature includes all relevant scenarios**, making it very unlikely to be implemented within an iteration’s scope. Since the [[Agile Project Core Team]] (A-PCT) uses iterative development as a way to help ensuring effective **incremental development**, it becomes a ==mandatory exercise to decompose every feature in the corresponding stories== so that they can be **integrated in the Work Items List** (WIL). **Stories** are very convenient because they were thought in a way that allows them to be **implemented in a short period while delivering value to the stakeholders**. Stories are the ideal tool for Agile teams because it allows them to build the solution “piece by piece” while collecting, analysing and integrating feedback in short iterations, which is a great way to validate if the team is progressing in the right direction. Another key benefit of the stories is that the simplicity of thought and structure allows a team and other stakeholders to manage the project’s scope efficiently. ==Stories make it easy to understand what has been implemented and delivered and plan what is left to be done==. [[8.5 User Stories Breakdown]]