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.

1. A SIMPLE SCENARIO
Lee is walking to his favourite ramen
restaurant in the rain to collect his takeaway
order when he is shocked to realise he has
forgotten his wallet! Just when he thinks he’s
going to have to walk back home to get his
wallet he remembers an ad from his bank that
said they had recently introduced ‘cardless
cash’ at it’s ATMs.
Lee would normally be reluctant to try
something new like this – there is so much that
could go wrong! However, this is an
emergency, so he takes his mobile phone from
his pocket and logs into his bank’s app.
Immediately sees a promotion for ‘cardless
cash’. He watches a quick video that explains
the process and learns about the security
mechanisms in place to protect his money.
STORIES ABOUT HOW NEW TECHNOLOGIES FIT INTO PEOPLE’S LIVES
Reassured, Lee proceeds to request $20 – just
enough to cover his meal - he doesn’t want to
risk any more.
Only a few seconds pass before Lee receives a
text message with his unique withdrawal code.
“OK, it seems to work.” He thinks.
He walks to the ATM near the restaurant. At
first he wonders how he will access the ATM
without a card, but he spots a new ‘cardless
cash’ option on the screen. He selects it and
the ATM asks for his code. He enters the code,
which is confirmed by the ATM.
Immediately $20 is dispensed from the ATM
and that’s it! The transaction is over!
Carrying his still-warm ramen home, Lee
quickly double-checks the transaction on his
phone. He is pleased to be banking with such
an innovative, customer-centered organisation.

2. 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?
EXERCISES
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

4. SCENARIO STRUCTURE
INTRODUCTION
<Character> is…
They need to…
They start by…
BODY
RESOLUTION
<Character> feels <emotion> that…
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
Action
ResponseAssess
Goal