A user story is an informal, natural language description of one or more features of a software system, written from the perspective of an end user or customer. User stories are a tool used in Agile software development to capture the "who", "what", and "why" of a product requirement. They are brief and use non-technical language to provide context for the development team and their efforts. User stories are usually written in the format "As a <type of user>, I want <some goal> so that <some reason>". They are designed to shift the focus from writing about features to discussing them, and every user story is a placeholder for a future conversation. User stories can be written by different stakeholders like clients, users, managers, or development teams, and they can be developed through discussion with stakeholders, based on personas, or simply made up. User stories are a type of boundary object that facilitates sensemaking and communication, and they may help software teams document their understanding of the system and its context. User stories are a useful way to build a better product backlog, one that is user-centric and describes software requirements in a practical, actionable way.