Scenarios

What is it?

Detailed accounts of situations in which your users will interact with your product, service or environment over a period of time.

What is it useful for?

Gaining an understanding of the context in which users may be interacting with your product, service or environment in order to refine it. It’s particularly useful when a series of interactions are necessary from the user.

How can I do it?

Define a set of characters who will use what you are designing. Consider the details of their lives – their jobs, their regular activities and their attitudes. Identify key moments where these users interact with your project, then realise them as scenes in a short text or a storyboard.

Test the scenario on users or yourself. Use what you learn to improve the design further.

To investigate the full scope of user interactions, you may need to construct three or four scenarios around the needs of a different character and improve them with each iteration.