Do I have to write every requirement as a User Story?

Practical answers to frequently asked questions and common challenges in Agile story writing and digital delivery.

No. Whilst user stories are useful for capturing functional needs from a user’s perspective, not all requirements fit this format. Technical constraints, legal obligations, accessibility standards and other cross-cutting concerns could be documented separately. These requirements still influence delivery so should inform story-level planning and acceptance criteria, but they do not need to follow the user story template. The focus should be on clarity and traceability, rather than on forcing everything into the User Story format.