In this workshop, you’ll learn to create scenarios and other types of stories to identify product opportunities, form design hypotheses and focus the design and evaluation of new user experiences. Drawing on your existing ability to tell a story, we’ll cover character development, motivation, internal dialog and story arc – all in the context of creating great user experiences.
7. STORIES
ELEMENTS OF A SCENARIO
!EXERCISE: CHARACTER
SCENARIO CONTENTS
!EXERCISE: PLOT
SCENARIO RULES
!EXERCISE: SCENARIO
SCENARIO REVIEW
!EXERCISE: REVIEW
NEXT STEPS
WRAP-UP
AGENDA
12. STORIES
"Evidence strongly suggests
that humans in all cultures
come to cast their own
identity in some sort of
narrative form. We are
inveterate storytellers.“
Owen Flanagan,
Consciousness Reconsidered
wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative
13. ELEMENTS OF A STORY
CHARACTER
SETTING
CONFLICT
PLOT
THEME
ME, AND THE CHILDREN
PROJECT OFFICE
ME VS THE DEVELOPERS
HOW I OVERCAME ADVERSITY
USABILITY TESTING
14. stories and
user
experience
Stories describe people’s
behaviour OVER TIME
Which is exactly what we are in the
business of doing…
User Experience Designers
design behaviour over time
Future ways for people to behave.
15. SCENARIOS
SCENARIOS ARE “DAY IN THE LIFE OF…” STORIES THAT CAPTURE THE INTENDED
EXPERIENCE OF PEOPLE USING A NEW PRODUCT OR SERVICE.
Scenarios help project members and stakeholders focus on how the system will be used
in the ‘real world’. Scenarios are often used to start imagining how behaviour will
change with the introduction of a new product. For this reason, they describe the whole
context and environment of use, not just the features and behaviour of the product.
TO MAKE SCENARIOS MORE RELEVANT, THEY DESCRIBE A PARTICULAR SITUATION
AND CONTEXT.
For example, they might describe the way one particular person might solve a problem
with the product. This does not imply that all people/situations will be the same.
SCENARIOS DO NOT INCLUDE DETAILS OF WHAT THE PRODUCT ACTUALLY LOOKS
LIKE.
The ‘look and feel’ will be addressed later, once issues of workflow and user behaviour
have been addressed.
SO WHAT ARE THEY?
16. LET’S SEE ONE!
Jason and Grace are a busy working couple living in the inner city. Jason works as a civil engineer and drives a lot to different
construction sites for work. Grace works as a lawyer at a big city law firm and is completing an MBA. With less and less time for exercise,
Jason and Grace have at least been trying to improve their eating habits. They thought about those home-delivered pre-cooked meals
but, as Grace says: "They just seem so sterile!".
On Wednesday night, Jason gets home from work around 7pm. He collects the mail on the way in and dumps it on the table. Grace isn't
home yet. She messaged him to say she was on her way and asked him to organise dinner. There's no way Jason is going to cook at this
hour, so it looks like take away again... That's when Jason notices the flier from a new pizza company called “Virtuous Circle” on the
table.
Apparently, they offer the convenience of fast food with the nutritional value of home cooked. Intrigued, Jason loads up Virtuous Circle's
mobile app.
Jason immediately gets to work ordering the pizzas. Interestingly, the app starts by asking how many people he is ordering for.
Jason browses the pizza options. Grace is vegetarian, so he filters the list to make things easier. The Black Bean Salsa pizza looks good.
He adds one medium to the order. When he does, he sees a running total of calories, carbohydrates, fat and salt for their order -
represented as a percentage of the daily recommended intake for 2 people.
Hmm, the salt level is a bit higher than the average - and Grace has been told to watch her blood pressure. Jason finds an alternative -
Broccoli and Rocket. He adds that and removes the Black Bean Salsa from the order. Cool.
He then finds a pizza for himself: Lamb Lahmahjoon. He checks the ingredients. Jason is allergic to onions, so he removes the shallots.
He replaces them with baby spinach then adds the second pizza to their order.
The nutritional information for the whole order checks out - so he proceeds to pay. When he does, he is alerted to Virtuous Circle's
introductory offer of a small Summer Berries dessert pizza for $6. Before Jason adds it he can see how it will affect the scores for the
meal. They're still in the green zone, so he goes ahead.
Jason enters his payment details and watches while his credit card is validated. Sitting down in front of the TV, he can easily keep an eye
on the progress of his order. He watches as their order moves from 'received' to 'preparing' to 'cooking' and finally to 'on its way'. The
app alerts him when the order is 5 minutes away. Time to set the table!
17. ELEMENTS OF A STORY
CHARACTER
SETTING
CONFLICT OR CHALLENGE
PLOT
THEME
18. CHARACTERS
Jason and Grace are a busy working couple living in the inner city. Jason works as a civil engineer and drives a lot to different
construction sites for work. Grace works as a lawyer at a big city law firm and is completing an MBA. With less and less time for exercise,
Jason and Grace have at least been trying to improve their eating habits. They thought about those home-delivered pre-cooked meals
but, as Grace says: "They just seem so sterile!".
On Wednesday night, Jason gets home from work around 7pm. He collects the mail on the way in and dumps it on the table. Grace isn't
home yet. She messaged him to say she was on her way and asked him to organise dinner. There's no way Jason is going to cook at this
hour, so it looks like take away again... That's when Jason notices the flier from a new pizza company called “Virtuous Circle” on the
table.
Apparently, they offer the convenience of fast food with the nutritional value of home cooked. Intrigued, Jason loads up Virtuous Circle's
mobile app.
Jason immediately gets to work ordering the pizzas. Interestingly, the app starts by asking how many people he is ordering for.
Jason browses the pizza options. Grace is vegetarian, so he filters the list to make things easier. The Black Bean Salsa pizza looks good.
He adds one medium to the order. When he does, he sees a running total of calories, carbohydrates, fat and salt for their order -
represented as a percentage of the daily recommended intake for 2 people.
Hmm, the salt level is a bit higher than the average - and Grace has been told to watch her blood pressure. Jason finds an alternative -
Broccoli and Rocket. He adds that and removes the Black Bean Salsa from the order. Cool.
He then finds a pizza for himself: Lamb Lahmahjoon. He checks the ingredients. Jason is allergic to onions, so he removes the shallots.
He replaces them with baby spinach then adds the second pizza to their order.
The nutritional information for the whole order checks out - so he proceeds to pay. When he does, he is alerted to Virtuous Circle's
introductory offer of a small Summer Berries dessert pizza for $6. Before Jason adds it he can see how it will affect the scores for the
meal. They're still in the green zone, so he goes ahead.
Jason enters his payment details and watches while his credit card is validated. Sitting down in front of the TV, he can easily keep an eye
on the progress of his order. He watches as their order moves from 'received' to 'preparing' to 'cooking' and finally to 'on its way'. The
app alerts him when the order is 5 minutes away. Time to set the table!
LET’S SEE ONE
19. SETTING
Jason and Grace are a busy working couple living in the inner city. Jason works as a civil engineer and drives a lot to different
construction sites for work. Grace works as a lawyer at a big city law firm and is completing an MBA. With less and less time for exercise,
Jason and Grace have at least been trying to improve their eating habits. They thought about those home-delivered pre-cooked meals
but, as Grace says: "They just seem so sterile!".
On Wednesday night, Jason gets home from work around 7pm. He collects the mail on the way in and dumps it on the table. Grace isn't
home yet. She messaged him to say she was on her way and asked him to organise dinner. There's no way Jason is going to cook at this
hour, so it looks like take away again... That's when Jason notices the flier from a new pizza company called “Virtuous Circle” on the
table.
Apparently, they offer the convenience of fast food with the nutritional value of home cooked. Intrigued, Jason loads up Virtuous Circle's
mobile app.
Jason immediately gets to work ordering the pizzas. Interestingly, the app starts by asking how many people he is ordering for.
Jason browses the pizza options. Grace is vegetarian, so he filters the list to make things easier. The Black Bean Salsa pizza looks good.
He adds one medium to the order. When he does, he sees a running total of calories, carbohydrates, fat and salt for their order -
represented as a percentage of the daily recommended intake for 2 people.
Hmm, the salt level is a bit higher than the average - and Grace has been told to watch her blood pressure. Jason finds an alternative -
Broccoli and Rocket. He adds that and removes the Black Bean Salsa from the order. Cool.
He then finds a pizza for himself: Lamb Lahmahjoon. He checks the ingredients. Jason is allergic to onions, so he removes the shallots.
He replaces them with baby spinach then adds the second pizza to their order.
The nutritional information for the whole order checks out - so he proceeds to pay. When he does, he is alerted to Virtuous Circle's
introductory offer of a small Summer Berries dessert pizza for $6. Before Jason adds it he can see how it will affect the scores for the
meal. They're still in the green zone, so he goes ahead.
Jason enters his payment details and watches while his credit card is validated. Sitting down in front of the TV, he can easily keep an eye
on the progress of his order. He watches as their order moves from 'received' to 'preparing' to 'cooking' and finally to 'on its way'. The
app alerts him when the order is 5 minutes away. Time to set the table!
LET’S SEE ONE
20. CONFLICT OR CHALLENGE
Jason and Grace are a busy working couple living in the inner city. Jason works as a civil engineer and drives a lot to different
construction sites for work. Grace works as a lawyer at a big city law firm and is completing an MBA. With less and less time for exercise,
Jason and Grace have at least been trying to improve their eating habits. They thought about those home-delivered pre-cooked meals
but, as Grace says: "They just seem so sterile!".
On Wednesday night, Jason gets home from work around 7pm. He collects the mail on the way in and dumps it on the table. Grace isn't
home yet. She messaged him to say she was on her way and asked him to organise dinner. There's no way Jason is going to cook at this
hour, so it looks like take away again... That's when Jason notices the flier from a new pizza company called “Virtuous Circle” on the
table.
Apparently, they offer the convenience of fast food with the nutritional value of home cooked. Intrigued, Jason loads up Virtuous Circle's
mobile app.
Jason immediately gets to work ordering the pizzas. Interestingly, the app starts by asking how many people he is ordering for.
Jason browses the pizza options. Grace is vegetarian, so he filters the list to make things easier. The Black Bean Salsa pizza looks good.
He adds one medium to the order. When he does, he sees a running total of calories, carbohydrates, fat and salt for their order -
represented as a percentage of the daily recommended intake for 2 people.
Hmm, the salt level is a bit higher than the average - and Grace has been told to watch her blood pressure. Jason finds an alternative -
Broccoli and Rocket. He adds that and removes the Black Bean Salsa from the order. Cool.
He then finds a pizza for himself: Lamb Lahmahjoon. He checks the ingredients. Jason is allergic to onions, so he removes the shallots.
He replaces them with baby spinach then adds the second pizza to their order.
The nutritional information for the whole order checks out - so he proceeds to pay. When he does, he is alerted to Virtuous Circle's
introductory offer of a small Summer Berries dessert pizza for $6. Before Jason adds it he can see how it will affect the scores for the
meal. They're still in the green zone, so he goes ahead.
Jason enters his payment details and watches while his credit card is validated. Sitting down in front of the TV, he can easily keep an eye
on the progress of his order. He watches as their order moves from 'received' to 'preparing' to 'cooking' and finally to 'on its way'. The
app alerts him when the order is 5 minutes away. Time to set the table!
LET’S SEE ONE
21. PLOT
Jason and Grace are a busy working couple living in the inner city. Jason works as a civil engineer and drives a lot to different
construction sites for work. Grace works as a lawyer at a big city law firm and is completing an MBA. With less and less time for exercise,
Jason and Grace have at least been trying to improve their eating habits. They thought about those home-delivered pre-cooked meals
but, as Grace says: "They just seem so sterile!".
On Wednesday night, Jason gets home from work around 7pm. He collects the mail on the way in and dumps it on the table. Grace isn't
home yet. She messaged him to say she was on her way and asked him to organise dinner. There's no way Jason is going to cook at this
hour, so it looks like take away again... That's when Jason notices the flier from a new pizza company called “Virtuous Circle” on the
table.
Apparently, they offer the convenience of fast food with the nutritional value of home cooked. Intrigued, Jason loads up Virtuous Circle's
mobile app.
Jason immediately gets to work ordering the pizzas. Interestingly, the app starts by asking how many people he is ordering for.
Jason browses the pizza options. Grace is vegetarian, so he filters the list to make things easier. The Black Bean Salsa pizza looks good.
He adds one medium to the order. When he does, he sees a running total of calories, carbohydrates, fat and salt for their order -
represented as a percentage of the daily recommended intake for 2 people.
Hmm, the salt level is a bit higher than the average - and Grace has been told to watch her blood pressure. Jason finds an alternative -
Broccoli and Rocket. He adds that and removes the Black Bean Salsa from the order. Cool.
He then finds a pizza for himself: Lamb Lahmahjoon. He checks the ingredients. Jason is allergic to onions, so he removes the shallots.
He replaces them with baby spinach then adds the second pizza to their order.
The nutritional information for the whole order checks out - so he proceeds to pay. When he does, he is alerted to Virtuous Circle's
introductory offer of a small Summer Berries dessert pizza for $6. Before Jason adds it he can see how it will affect the scores for the
meal. They're still in the green zone, so he goes ahead.
Jason enters his payment details and watches while his credit card is validated. Sitting down in front of the TV, he can easily keep an eye
on the progress of his order. He watches as their order moves from 'received' to 'preparing' to 'cooking' and finally to 'on its way'. The
app alerts him when the order is 5 minutes away. Time to set the table!
LET’S SEE ONE
22. THEME (THE PRODUCT AS SOLUTION)
Jason and Grace are a busy working couple living in the inner city. Jason works as a civil engineer and drives a lot to different
construction sites for work. Grace works as a lawyer at a big city law firm and is completing an MBA. With less and less time for exercise,
Jason and Grace have at least been trying to improve their eating habits. They thought about those home-delivered pre-cooked meals
but, as Grace says: "They just seem so sterile!".
On Wednesday night, Jason gets home from work around 7pm. He collects the mail on the way in and dumps it on the table. Grace isn't
home yet. She messaged him to say she was on her way and asked him to organise dinner. There's no way Jason is going to cook at this
hour, so it looks like take away again... That's when Jason notices the flier from a new pizza company called “Virtuous Circle” on the
table.
Apparently, they offer the convenience of fast food with the nutritional value of home cooked. Intrigued, Jason loads up Virtuous Circle's
mobile app.
Jason immediately gets to work ordering the pizzas. Interestingly, the app starts by asking how many people he is ordering for.
Jason browses the pizza options. Grace is vegetarian, so he filters the list to make things easier. The Black Bean Salsa pizza looks good.
He adds one medium to the order. When he does, he sees a running total of calories, carbohydrates, fat and salt for their order -
represented as a percentage of the daily recommended intake for 2 people.
Hmm, the salt level is a bit higher than the average - and Grace has been told to watch her blood pressure. Jason finds an alternative -
Broccoli and Rocket. He adds that and removes the Black Bean Salsa from the order. Cool.
He then finds a pizza for himself: Lamb Lahmahjoon. He checks the ingredients. Jason is allergic to onions, so he removes the shallots.
He replaces them with baby spinach then adds the second pizza to their order.
The nutritional information for the whole order checks out - so he proceeds to pay. When he does, he is alerted to Virtuous Circle's
introductory offer of a small Summer Berries dessert pizza for $6. Before Jason adds it he can see how it will affect the scores for the
meal. They're still in the green zone, so he goes ahead.
Jason enters his payment details and watches while his credit card is validated. Sitting down in front of the TV, he can easily keep an eye
on the progress of his order. He watches as their order moves from 'received' to 'preparing' to 'cooking' and finally to 'on its way'. The
app alerts him when the order is 5 minutes away. Time to set the table!
LET’S SEE ONE
23. THINGS TO NOTICE
CHARACTER
SETTING
CONFLICT OR CHALLENGE
PLOT
THEME
JASON AND GRACE, AND A LITTLE BIT ABOUT
THEM AS PEOPLE
AT HOME, AFTER WORK
TRYING TO IMPROVE EATING HABITS, BUT BUSY
BEGINNING (PROBLEM), MIDDLE (ACTION) AND
END (RESOLUTION)
OUR PRODUCT
24. SCENARIOS
WE USE SCENARIOS TO ENVISAGE HOW A NEW PRODUCT OR SERVICE WILL BE
USED IN PEOPLE’S LIVES
§ Does the product fit with the way people need to work?
§ Are new behaviours implied by the scenario realistic?
§ Are the product features described actually desirable and feasible?
SCENARIOS ARE OUR FIRST DESIGNS
SCENARIOS CAN ALSO DESCRIBE THE STATUS QUO (“CURRENT STATE SCENARIO”)
Capturing the opportunity in a compelling, contextualised way
26. A STORY, NOT AN EPIC
YOUR SCENARIO DOESN’T NEED MAJOR PLOT TWISTS OR EPIC BATTLES
§ It probably does need a happy ending, though, and…
§ it certainly does have a protagonist.
BUT… SOMETHING THAT MAKES A COMPELLING STORY MAKES A COMPELLING
PRODUCT OR PRODUCT FEATURE
§ So don't be afraid to look for a little drama or emotion.
27. CURRENT STATE SCENARIO
BARBARA – THE “DESIGNATED SEARCHER”
Barbara has always liked looking things up. Her job as a writer and editor for a technical
magazine lets her explore new topics for articles. In addition to the Web, she has access
to news sources, legal and medical databases, and online publication archives. Recently,
a friend was diagnosed with colon cancer. She helped him identify the best hospitals for
this cancer and read up on the latest treatments. She looked for clinical trials that might
help him, and even read up on some alternative treatments being offered in Mexico
and Switzerland. She was glad to be able to find articles in journals she trusted to give
her depth that more popular medical sites lacked.
Storytelling for User Experience:
Crafting Stories for Better Design
Whitney Quesenbery, Kevin Brooks. 2010
28. ELEMENTS OF A SCENARIO
§ A specific person (or people) in a specific situation
§ A challenge or opportunity
§ A resolution
§ Describe the information in and out
§ Include people’s inner dialogue and emotional state
§ No user interface!
29. SCENARIOS THROUGHOUT THE
PROJECT LIFECYCLE
BUT ALSO
§ Capture current experience
§ Sell the concept
§ Get everyone on the same page
By externalising thoughts and
stipulating the end result (not HOW it
will work)
§ Script for design (divide the design
space)
§ Script for testing
§ Primer for marketing, training,
documentation…
Envision the
new experience
31. WHERE DO SCENARIOS COME FROM?
IDEALLY, USER RESEARCH
A real story that resonated with you
OR, PERSONAS MAY BE THE INSPIRATION
OR, USER GOALS AND BUSINESS GOALS
Look for interesting relationships between them
OR, COMBINE USER STORIES/USE CASES
If they exist already.
32. PERSONAS AND SCENARIOS
SCENARIOS NEED CHARACTERS, AND PERSONAS ARE THE PERFECT SOURCE…
"JUST AS PERSONAS MAKE USERS COME ALIVE FOR USER EXPERIENCE DESIGNERS,
STORIES MAKE USERS’ LIVES REAL".
Ginny Riddish, foreword to
"Storytelling for User Experience ", Whitney Quesenbery & Kevin Brooks, 2010
PEOPLE WITH A PROBLEM
35. A
SCENARIO PRODUCT/SERVICE
GROUP A
AN AIRLINE WANTS TO MAKE MORE
USE OF ITS IN-SEAT ENTERTAINMENT
SCREENS BY ALLOWING FREQUENT
FLIERS TO LOGIN AND PERFORM A
RANGE OF ACTIVITIES.
IS THAT A GOOD IDEA?
STEP 1
GROUP B
A NEW RESTAURANT HOPES TO
ATTRACT A YOUNG TECH-SAVVY
CROWD BY INSTALLING LARGE-FORMAT
MULTI-TOUCH SCREENS IN ALL ITS
TABLES.
BUT WHAT SHOULD IT DO WITH THEM?
Or… A product or service of your choice.
B
37. !! CHARACTER(S)
IN YOUR GROUPS, BRAINSTORM
POSSIBLE CUSTOMERS/USERS FOR
YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE.
§ What types of people would find the
product/service useful
§ What problems or opportunities do
they have? (“Jobs”)
§ What motivates them? (“Gains”)
§ What frustrates them? (“Pains”)
YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES
STEP 2.
CHOOSE ONE MAIN
CHARACTER AND COMPLETE THE
“CUSTOMER SEGMENT” HALF OF A
“VALUE PROPOSITION CANVAS”.
§ When you are ready, draw the
Customer Segment diagram for your
main character as a group.
Large enough for others to see, please.
YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES
42. PLOT
SCENARIO PLOTS SHOULD FOCUS ON
THE KEY BENEFITS OF THE PRODUCT,
AND HOW PEOPLE WILL REALISE THAT
BENEFIT.
STEP 3
§ What is the setting in which the product
will be used?
§ Will it be used for extended amounts of
time?
§ Is the persona frequently interrupted?
§ Are there multiple users?
§ What other products is it used with?
§ How much complexity is reasonable?
§ What primary activities does the persona
need to accomplish to meet her goals?
§ What is the expected end result of using
the product?
Adapted from Kim Goodwin in
About Face, Cooper et al.
43. DON’T MAKE THINGS TOO EASY
ADD SOME (MANAGEABLE) CHALLENGES ALONG THE WAY…
It's 11am and Elizabeth is just returning from her coffee break. She turns the corner into
the hospital receiving dock and immediately notices a 7 foot tall patient lifting machine
has been left on the dock! There's no-one in sight.
"Here we go, what am I supposed to with this?!?!", she thinks.
She can tell the machine is not new, so it presumably belongs to the hospital. She starts
by looking for a barcode. The good news is, she finds one. The bad news is the barcode
scanner won't reach from her desk against the wall. So she memorises the last 4 digits
and walks over to the laptop…
STEP 3 - PLOT
ADD SOME (MANAGEABLE) CHALLENGES ALONG THE WAY…
It's 11am and Elizabeth is just returning from her coffee break. She turns the corner into
the hospital receiving dock and immediately notices a 7 foot tall patient lifting machine
has been left on the dock! There's no-one in sight.
"Here we go, what am I supposed to with this?!?!", she thinks.
She can tell the machine is not new, so it presumably belongs to the hospital. She starts
by looking for a barcode. The good news is, she finds one. The bad news is the barcode
scanner won't reach from her desk against the wall. So she memorises the last 4 digits
and walks over to the laptop…
44. TASK SCENARIOS
ONCE YOU’VE IDENTIFIED YOUR CHARACTERS,
YOU CAN START TO THINK ABOUT PLOTS.
‘TASK SCENARIOS’* ARE ONE SENTENCE DESCRIPTIONS OF A USER TASK OR GOAL
“Mark needs to schedule pump maintenance for this weekend.”
“Alka’s friends split the dinner bill.”
“Shane researches a trip to India.”
“Arvid buys his first family car.”
*My term
STEP 3 PLOT
45. !! PLOT – TASK SCENARIOS
IN YOUR GROUP
Quickly Brainstorm 5 task scenarios
(One sentence each)
STEP 3 – PART 1
YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES
EXAMPLE
“Mark needs to schedule pump
maintenance for this weekend.”
46. !! PLOT
WHAT IS YOUR CHARACTER’S:
§ Situation?
Context, Location
§ Problem?
Job, Challenge, Opportunity
WHAT WILL HAPPEN?
§ What are the basic steps?
WHAT IS THE RESOLUTION?
§ How did your product or service help?
STEP 3 – PART 2
YOUR TASK
AS A GROUP
§ Select one task scenario to flesh out
from the last step
§ Brainstorm the plot
§ Write out the main steps of your plot
in bullet points*
YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES
* This is not your scenario!
We are just preparing…
51. SCENARIO TEMPLATE
Kylie Crisp has been working in the education sales team for 6 months and is
comfortable with most sales calls. Every morning she comes in to work and opens her
activity centre, which shows her list of pending tasks.
It’s Monday morning, so she needs to take care of all the training enrolments that came
in over the web on the weekend
She starts by sorting her tasks by type so she can see all the enrolments first.
Kylie reads the first training request. It’s from Susan Armstrong, who has requested a
quote for enrolling 3 people for the MegaPlan Software Fundamentals course on
November 2-3 in Melbourne. Kylie recognises Susan as a regular customer. It’s
important to keep priority customers happy, so she immediately brings up the course
availability. Fortunately, there are 4 places left, so she places 3 on hold…
…
With her first request for the day done, Susan feels confident she’ll get through them all
by lunchtime.
STEP 4 - EXAMPLE
52. SCENARIO TEMPLATE
Kylie Crisp has been working in the education sales team for 6 months and is
comfortable with most sales calls. Every morning she comes in to work and opens her
activity centre, which shows her list of pending tasks.
It’s Monday morning, so she needs to take care of all the training enrolments that came
in over the web on the weekend
She starts by sorting her tasks by type so she can see all the enrolments first.
Kylie reads the first training request. It’s from Susan Armstrong, who has requested a
quote for enrolling 3 people for the MegaPlan Software Fundamentals course on
November 2-3 in Melbourne. Kylie recognises Susan as a regular customer. It’s
important to keep priority customers happy, so she immediately brings up the course
availability. Fortunately, there are 4 places left, so she places 3 on hold…
…
With her first request for the day done, Susan feels confident she’ll get through them all
by lunchtime.
STEP 4 - EXAMPLE
Character is…
They need to…
They start by… Response
Assess
Goal
AcHon
Response
Character feels…
53. SCENARIO RULES
$ BE SPECIFIC
Don’t describe every possible situation
$ INCLUDE A CHALLENGE
A reasonable roadblock to overcome
$ WRITE IN PROSE
Sentences, not bullet points
$ INCLUDE INTERNAL DIALOG
Reactions, plans
$ DESCRIBE EMOTION
How does the character feel?
$ DESCRIBE THE INFORMATION IN AND OUT
What information or actions does the user provide, what information is provided in response?
$ DON’T DESCRIBE THE USER INTERFACE
Design the experience, not the controls or presentation
STEP 4
WHY WRITE IN PROSE?
• Forces you to think
about context
• Forces you to think
about flow
54. DRAFT SCENARIO
IN YOUR GROUPS
Using your character and plot outlines, write a complete scenario.
§ Use the Scenario template
§ Follow the Scenario rules
§ Write on flipchart paper, big enough for others to read.
YOU HAVE 20 MINUTES
STEP 4
55. !! DRAFT SCENARIO
INTRODUCTION
<Character> is…
They need to…
They start by…
BODY
RESOLUTION
<Character> feels <emotion> that…
STEP 4
RULES
$ BE SPECIFIC
$ INCLUDE A CHALLENGE
$ WRITE IN PROSE
$ INCLUDE INTERNAL DIALOG
$ DESCRIBE EMOTION
$ DESCRIBE THE INFORMATION IN AND OUT
$ DON’T DESCRIBE THE USER INTERFACE
YOU HAVE 20 MINUTES
Action
Response
Assess
Goal
58. Review
Review by
• Product owners
• Marketing
• Sales
• Support and training
• Technical staff
• And users
STEP 5
Because they are stories, Scenarios
are ideal for review
• They reveal how new products will
integrate into people’s larger lives
• They capture the interplay with
other products and services
• They focus on workflow
The sequence of user activity is
one of the most important things
to get right
• They reveal feature priorities
• They are easy to relate to
59. !! REVIEW
PAIR UP WITH A TEAM FROM THE
OTHER PRODUCT GROUP
§ Each team presents their scenario
§ The other team provides feedback
§ Make edits to your scenario
YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES
(5 MINUTES PER TEAM)
STEP 5
THINGS TO LOOK FOR
$
BE SPECIFIC
$
INCLUDE A CHALLENGE
$
WRITE IN PROSE
$
INCLUDE INTERNAL DIALOG
$
DESCRIBE EMOTION
$
DESCRIBE THE INFORMATION IN AND OUT
$
DON’T DESCRIBE THE USER INTERFACE
62. NEXT STEPS FOR YOUR SCENARIOS
ILLUSTRATED SCENARIOS
Sketches to flesh out the scenario screens
STORYBOARD
Illustrations of the context of use
JOURNEY MAPS
STORY MAPS
Break down scenario and identify UI and technical details (in text)
USER STORIES / USE CASES
WIREFRAMES
63. STORY MAP
Jeff Patton (CC) BY-NT-SA creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
NEXT STEPS
65. !! ILLUSTRATED SCENARIO
REVIEW YOUR SCENARIO
SKETCH THE PRODUCT USER
INTERFACE TO SUPPORT THE SCENARIO
§ Working through the scenario step by
step, draw the screens/controls
required to support the scenario.
§ Don’t worry about features/controls
not mentioned in the scenario.
STEP 6
YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES
JUST GET STARTED!
69. SCENARIOS MAKE DESIGN
APPROACHABLE
SCENARIOS HELP AVOID ’BLANK PAGE’ SYNDROME
§ You don’t have to design the whole product, only this flow
COMBINE ILLUSTRATED SCENARIOS TO FORM AN OVERALL INTERACTION MODEL
§ Making adjustments as necessary
70. HOW MANY SCENARIOS?
DON’T USE SCENARIOS TO DESCRIBE
EVERY POSSIBLE FLOW AND FUNCTION
FOR A TYPICAL PHONE APPLICATION, I
MIGHT CONSIDER UP TO 6 SCENARIOS
FOCUS ON THE MAIN END-TO-END
FLOWS THAT SUPPORT THE VALUE
PROPOSITION
§ We need to get these right
YOU MIGHT ALSO ADD 1-2 ‘CRITICAL
SCENARIOS’
§ Scenarios that don’t happen often, but
you need to get right.
71. SCENARIOS THROUGHOUT THE
PROJECT LIFECYCLE
BUT ALSO
§ Capture current experience
§ Sell the concept
§ Get everyone on the same page
By externalising thoughts and
stipulating the end result (not HOW it
will work)
§ Script for design (divide the design
space)
§ Script for testing
§ Primer for marketing, training,
documentation…
Envision the
new experience
72. SCENARIOS IN PRACTICE
YOU DON’T HAVE TO FOLLOW TODAY’S
PROCESS EXACTLY
§ We’ve followed a very structured
process today
§ You don’t need to break scenario
creation up in to as many steps.
SCENARIOS ARE MOST USEFUL FOR
TRANSACTIONAL PRODUCTS
§ But still have a place for ‘browsing’
products.
TIPS
DESIGN WORKSHOPS
§ Scenario writing is useful early in the
project to introduce the role (and
importance) of user experience
§ Team members, stakeholders and users
can contribute to scenarios.
§ Don’t get too caught up with feasibility.
Technical discussions can quickly shut
down the scenario process.
Allow the team to maintain their
creativity
73. SCENARIOS
$ USE ‘STORY’ TO HELP THE READER RELATE TO THE USER
$ FOCUS ON END TO END FLOW
$ TAKE CONTEXT INTO ACCOUNT
$ CAPTURE EMOTION AND INTERNAL DIALOG
$ ARE EASY TO WRITE
$ ARE ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE
$ ARE YOUR FIRST DESIGN
76. DESIGNING WITH SCENARIOS:
PUTTING PERSONAS TO WORK
KIM GOODWIN
articles.uie.com/designing_scenarios/
STORYTELLING FOR USER EXPERIENCE
WHITNEY QUESENBERY & KEVIN
BROOKS
Rosenfeld Media
USING STORIES FOR A BETTER USER
EXPERIENCE
WHITNEY QUESENBERY & KEVIN
BROOKS
www.writersua.com/articles/stories/
USING SCENARIOS
UX THINK
uxthink.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/
using_scenarios/
RESOURCES
77.
78. “My initial thoughts about what a title can do was to set
a mood and the prime underlying core of the film’s
story, to express the story in a metaphorical way.
I saw the title as a way of conditioning the
audience, so that when the film actually
began, viewers would already have
an emotional resonance with it.”
SAUL BASS