Hi, my name is Kim Goodwin. On May 19, I’ll be leading a UIE Virtual Seminar on designing with scenarios. I think of scenarios as my desert island design tool--if I had to give up all but one technique, this is the one I’d keep. You might think scenarios are just use cases or agile user stories by another name, but scenarios have a few qualities that make them uniquely powerful design tools.s\n
The first unique quality is that scenarios are truly stories. They’re narratives, which are perhaps the easiest, most natural communication tool we have. Every child learns to express imagination through storytelling, so scenarios are great for generating novel ideas. Every good orator and leader tells stories to bring their key points to life, so scenarios can help you sell people on a design.\n
The second unique thing about scenarios is their specificity. Use cases and user stories employ roles, which are generic descriptions of user based on their tasks--things like system administrator, or nurse, or shopper. Scenarios make use of personas that have specific skills, goals, and attitudes and exist in particular environments that influence their needs and behavior. Knowing more about our users and the situations they’re in makes it much easier to imagine ideal solutions in a concrete way.\n
The third superpower of scenarios is that they’re silo-busters. Many of the worst user experience moments occur when users transition from one task or tool to another, especially if those involve different systems or parts of an organization. Because a scenario is a whole story, it starts with the persona’s need and doesn’t end until the interaction is over. For example, an air travel scenario starts with identifying the need for a trip and doesn’t end until the persona and her luggage are safely home. Just imagine all the different process and systems involved there, and you’ll see how focusing on overall flow could smooth some pretty rough edges.\n
If you’d like to see how scenarios can help you strategize across silos, define products with better requirements, and help drive your sketching and storyboarding, I hope you’ll join me for the virtual seminar! \n