Unlocking BDD Collaboration: How BDD for Jira Brings Example Mapping into Your Backlog

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Introduction

In today’s fast-paced software development world, collaboration between product owners, business analysts, developers, and testers is more crucial than ever. Behaviour-driven Development (BDD) has emerged as a powerful practice, that through its use of example-based scenarios written in plain English helps to ensure that everyone on the team shares the same understanding of the desired behaviour.

While BDD process encompasses multiple techniques and supporting tools that guide teams from initial requirements to automated testing, Example Mapping is arguably the most important of these. It kickstarts the workflow for each individual user story, providing a clear, example-based foundation on which subsequent activities — such as writing Gherkin scenarios and developing automated tests — can build on.

In this article, I’ll walk through why Example Mapping matters, how BDD for Jira by SharedSpec app seamlessly incorporates it, and how you can save time by moving from an Example Map to a Gherkin Feature file in one click.

Example Mapping: A Brief Overview

Example Mapping is a lightweight, visual technique used to collaboratively explore the requirement that should be fulfilled. It involves breaking down a user story into rules, concrete examples, and open questions — often captured onto index cards or digital tiles. Example Mapping is a very impactful practice, since it brings roles together in dynamic, interactive sessions, where edge cases and questions are surfaced early and misunderstandings are caught before any code is written. For a thorough explanation of Example Mapping, check out Matt Wynne's original article - Introducing Example Mapping.

Here is what an Example Map illustrating frequent‑flyer points behaviour for a flight booking system could look like:

Common Ways to Create and Share Example Maps

To conduct Example Mapping so that everyone can see and participate, teams commonly use one of the following approaches:

• Physical Index Cards or Sticky Notes: In a co‑located meeting, teams write the story, rules, examples, and questions on coloured index cards or sticky notes and place them on a whiteboard or wall. This low‑tech approach offers immediate interaction and flexible rearrangement of cards.
• Digital Collaboration Boards (e.g., Miro, MURAL, Jamboard): For distributed or remote teams, online white-boarding tools provide “cards” or sticky‑note features that can emulate physical Example Mapping. Multiple participants can add, move, and edit cards in real time.

Moving from an Example Map to a Feature File

After either a physical or digital mapping session, teams typically capture the completed Example Map by taking a photo of the board or exporting the digital board to a PDF. These artefacts can then be attached to Confluence pages or Jira issues to ensure the map is preserved and accessible. However, because they are static images or documents, transferring the captured notes into a structured Feature file — for subsequent BDD formulation and automation work — often requires tedious retyping or error-prone copying and pasting of each card’s text.

How BDD for Jira Supports Example Mapping

BDD for Jira embeds the entire Example Mapping experience directly under each Jira issue via a rich Feature panel editor. This editor supports multiple modes to guide different BDD activities. The Discovery mode is designed specifically for building Example Maps visually via an intuitive drag-n-drop interface. Below is a sped-up video demonstrating how the previously mentioned Example Map for frequent-flyer points behaviour can be quickly assembled:

In a session using BDD for Jira app, one team member typically acts as the facilitator—guiding the discussion while sharing their screen and capturing inputs as they emerge.

Using BDD for Jira offers several key advantages over alternative approaches:

Seamless Workflow: Example Mapping occurs directly inside Jira — which eliminates any need for tedious retyping or copying, and reduces setup time. No hopping between Jira and external tools.

Instant Switch to Gherkin Feature Editing: When the team is ready to transition from mapping to Gherkin scenario construction, a single click switches to the Gherkin Feature file view within the panel, enabling immediate further refinement of scenarios.

Maps Implicitly Stay Organised: Each Example Map is stored under its corresponding Jira issue, making it easy to create, manage and share multiple maps, each unique to a specific user story in your backlog.

Audit Trail: Since everything lives in Jira, each mapping update is tied to the issue's history, making it easy to track decisions and revisions. You can see exactly how your rules and examples evolved over time.

Conclusion

By embedding Example Mapping directly into Jira and enabling a single-click jump to a Gherkin Feature file, BDD for Jira removes friction from the BDD workflow. Business stakeholders, developers, and testers — already working in Jira — can all access and update example maps without switching tools, making it easy to confirm and maintain that much sought-after shared understanding.

If you’re passionate about delivering high-quality software with clear communication and rapid feedback loops, give BDD for Jira a try. I’d love to hear your feedback, tips, or any questions you have — feel free to comment below or reach out directly. Here’s to better collaboration, clearer requirements, and faster delivery!

This article was written by the makers of BDD for Jira and BDD Gherkin Editor for Jira — two apps that make working with BDD process easy and collaborative directly in Jira. You can find them on the Atlassian Marketplace.