What are effective user scenario creation methods for emerging technologies?

1 Persona-based scenarios

Creating user scenarios based on personas can help you define the characteristics, goals, motivations, and pain points of your target users. To create persona-based scenarios, you can first identify the key personas for your product or service, and describe their demographic, behavioral, and psychographic attributes. Then, choose one persona as the primary focus for each scenario and give them a name and photo. Next, define the goal or task that the persona wants to achieve with your product or service, and the situation or environment where they use it. Afterwards, write a narrative that describes how the persona interacts with your product or service and how it helps them achieve their goal or task. This narrative should include details such as actions, inputs, outputs, feedback, emotions, and challenges that the persona experiences along the way. Finally, review and refine your scenario to make sure it is realistic, relevant, and consistent with your persona and your product or service.

2 Goal-directed scenarios

Creating user scenarios based on goals, which are the desired outcomes or benefits that users seek from your product or service, helps you focus on the value proposition and user needs. To create goal-directed scenarios, you should first identify and prioritize the key goals that users want to achieve with your product or service. Then, choose one goal as the main focus for each scenario and describe it in a concise and measurable way. Furthermore, define the user role and the situation or environment where the goal is pursued, and assign them a name and a photo. When writing the narrative, include details such as actions, inputs, outputs, feedback, emotions, and challenges that the user role experiences. Lastly, review and refine your scenario to make sure it is specific, meaningful, and aligned with your goal and product.

3 Task-based scenarios

A third method for creating user scenarios is to base them on tasks, the specific activities or steps users perform with your product or service to achieve a goal. Tasks help you break down the user journey and the interaction flow of your product or service, and provide a detailed framework for your scenarios. To create task-based scenarios, you should first identify the key tasks users perform with your product and group them into logical categories or stages. Then, choose one task as the main focus for each scenario and describe it in a clear and actionable way. Additionally, define the user role and the situation or environment where the task is performed, assigning them a name and a photo. After that, write a narrative that describes how the user role performs the task with your product or service, and how it supports the goal and value proposition. Make sure to include details such as actions, inputs, outputs, feedback, emotions, and challenges that come up along the way. Finally, review and refine your scenario to ensure it is accurate, relevant, and consistent with your task and product.

4 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?