How to Use ClickUp User Story Templates Step-by-Step
ClickUp makes it easier to replace or complement Jira by giving Agile teams ready-to-use user story templates, visual workflows, and flexible task views in one place. This how-to guide walks you through using those templates to capture requirements, prioritize work, and keep every stakeholder aligned.
Why Use ClickUp for Agile User Stories
Before diving into the steps, it helps to understand why product managers and Scrum teams move their user stories into ClickUp.
- Centralized workspace for product, engineering, and stakeholders
- Templates to standardize story structure across projects
- Custom fields for story points, priorities, and acceptance criteria
- Views (List, Board, Timeline) to adapt to your team’s style
- Automations to keep stories moving across statuses
The original comparison of Jira user story workflows and templates in ClickUp is available on the ClickUp blog article about Jira user story templates.
Prepare Your Workspace in ClickUp
Before you start adding user stories, set up a basic structure in ClickUp so your whole team works the same way.
Create a Space for Product Management
- Log into your workspace.
- Create a new Space named something like Product Development or Agile Delivery.
- Choose permissions and sharing settings so product, engineering, and QA can access the same Space.
This Space becomes your central hub for epics, sprints, and user stories in ClickUp.
Add a Folder for Your Product or Project
- Within your Space, create a Folder for each product line or major project.
- Use clear names like Mobile App, Web Platform, or API Services.
- Decide if you want one Folder per product, or separate Folders for backlog, sprints, and releases.
Many teams migrating from Jira keep a similar hierarchy in ClickUp so the transition is smooth.
Set Up Lists for Backlog and Sprints in ClickUp
Lists in ClickUp act like Jira boards or project containers for user stories and tasks.
Create a Product Backlog List
- Inside your Folder, create a List called Product Backlog.
- Choose a status set that matches your Agile flow, for example:
- Backlog
- Ready
- In Progress
- In Review
- Done
- Customize colors so each status is easy to scan.
This List holds all user stories before they are committed to a specific sprint in ClickUp.
Create Sprint or Iteration Lists
- Create one List per sprint (for example, Sprint 24, Sprint 25).
- Reuse the same status set you used for the backlog.
- Optionally, add sprint start and end dates as custom fields or List dates.
Moving stories from the backlog List into sprint Lists will mirror your existing Jira sprint planning while using ClickUp’s views and automations.
Use ClickUp User Story Templates
Now that your structure is in place, you can standardize how every user story is written using templates inside ClickUp.
Choose or Create a User Story Template
- Open your Product Backlog List.
- Create a new task and name it using the user story format, for example: As a customer, I want to save my cart so I can check out later.
- In the task sidebar, click the template options (often shown as a dot menu or template icon).
- Browse available templates, such as:
- User story template with description and acceptance criteria
- Bug or defect template
- Epic template for larger initiatives
- If no template matches what you need, configure the task yourself with the fields you want, then save it as a new template in ClickUp.
Your custom user story template can include description sections, checklists, and fields tailored to your team.
Define Standard Fields in the Template
To make user stories clear and testable in ClickUp, add these fields to your template:
- Description structure
- Problem statement
- User role and goal
- Business value
- Acceptance criteria
- Use bullet points or a checklist
- Make each criterion testable and unambiguous
- Custom fields
- Story points (number)
- Priority (dropdown: Low, Medium, High, Critical)
- Epic link or feature area (dropdown or relationship)
- Release or version target
Once saved, your user story template ensures every new story in ClickUp follows the same pattern, no matter who writes it.
Write a User Story in ClickUp
With templates ready, you can start adding consistent user stories that mirror (or replace) your Jira stories.
Step-by-Step: Create a New User Story
- Open the Product Backlog List.
- Click New Task and choose your User Story template.
- Enter a clear title in the standard format:
- As a [type of user], I want [action] so that [benefit].
- Fill in the description with:
- Context or problem
- User scenario
- Constraints or assumptions
- Add acceptance criteria as a checklist so QA and product can verify completion.
- Set story points, priority, and any other custom fields defined in your ClickUp template.
- Assign the story to the right team member or leave it unassigned for refinement sessions.
This workflow keeps every story aligned with your Agile process and makes planning in ClickUp faster.
Organize and Prioritize Stories in ClickUp
Once you have multiple stories, you need to organize them, connect them to epics, and prioritize the backlog.
Group Stories by Epics or Features
- Create parent tasks or separate Lists to represent epics.
- Use task relationships or subtasks to connect user stories to their epic.
- Add custom fields for Feature Area or Category in ClickUp so filtering becomes easier.
This structure helps stakeholders see how individual user stories roll up into larger product initiatives.
Prioritize with Views and Sorting
- Switch to List View and sort by Priority or story points.
- Use Board View to drag and drop stories between workflow statuses.
- Create a Backlog Prioritization view filtered to only show Backlog or Ready items.
ClickUp makes it simple to recreate Jira-style backlog grooming while giving you more flexibility in how the information is displayed.
Plan Sprints and Track Progress in ClickUp
After your backlog is prioritized, you can plan sprints, move stories into them, and keep track of progress from planning to release.
Move Stories into Sprint Lists
- Select refined stories from the backlog.
- Use bulk actions to move them into the correct sprint List.
- Confirm that each story has points, priority, and acceptance criteria filled in.
This flow mirrors how you would pull stories into a Jira sprint, but keeps everything centralized in ClickUp.
Monitor Progress During the Sprint
- Use a Board View in the sprint List to see stories by status.
- Switch to List View to sort by assignee or due date.
- Add dashboards for burndown charts, workload, and story completion metrics.
Because the same user story templates are used in every sprint, your reports stay consistent over time in ClickUp.
Tips to Transition from Jira to ClickUp
If your team is moving from Jira, you can keep familiar practices while taking advantage of new options in ClickUp.
- Match statuses and naming conventions so teams recognize the workflow.
- Recreate your standard Jira story fields with ClickUp custom fields.
- Save your best-practice story format as the default template for the backlog List.
- Use views and dashboards to replace Jira boards and reports.
Adopting these habits speeds up onboarding and ensures your stories remain high quality during the transition.
Next Steps: Improve Your Agile Setup in ClickUp
After your basic user story system is running, you can refine it by adding automation rules, dependencies, and advanced reporting views directly inside ClickUp.
If you want expert help optimizing your workspace, migrating from Jira, or setting up advanced AI-driven workflows, consider working with a specialist consultancy like Consultevo for guidance.
By standardizing user story templates, organizing your backlog, and using powerful views, your team can transform how it plans and delivers work in ClickUp.
Need Help With ClickUp?
If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your ClickUp workspace, work with ConsultEvo — trusted ClickUp Solution Partners.
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