How can you identify user goals and motivations using user scenarios?

1 What are user goals and motivations?

User goals are the desired outcomes that users want to achieve by using a product or service. They can be functional, emotional, social, or personal. For example, a user might want to book a flight online, feel confident about their travel plans, share their itinerary with friends, or explore new destinations. User motivations are the reasons why users want to achieve their goals. They can be intrinsic, such as curiosity, enjoyment, or self-expression, or extrinsic, such as rewards, recognition, or convenience. For example, a user might be motivated to book a flight online because they enjoy browsing different options, or because they want to save time and money.

3 How to use user scenarios for design?

User scenarios can help you design products or services that meet user goals and motivations, by providing you with insights into the user's context, behavior, and emotions. For example, using a user scenario, you could design an online travel booking website that offers a variety of flights with clear and transparent prices and details. It should also allow the user to filter, sort, and compare flights easily and quickly. Moreover, a smooth and secure payment process and confirmation should be provided, as well as helpful and responsive customer service. Additionally, user scenarios can validate your assumptions and hypotheses about the user's needs and problems. They can also generate ideas and solutions that address the user's expectations and pain points. Furthermore, they can be used to evaluate and test your design concepts and prototypes with real users and scenarios. Lastly, they can be used to communicate and collaborate with your team and stakeholders about the user's perspective and experience.

4 What are the benefits of user scenarios?

User scenarios can be incredibly beneficial for your UX research and design process, allowing you to empathize with the user and understand their goals and motivations. You can use them to identify and prioritize user needs and problems, then create solutions to solve them. Additionally, user scenarios can help you test and validate design decisions and assumptions with real users and situations, as well as communicate and document your design rationale and vision to team members or stakeholders.

5 What are the best practices for user scenarios?

To create and use user scenarios effectively, you should base them on real user data and research, writing them in a simple and concise language. Furthermore, user scenarios should be used as a starting point and a tool for collaboration and communication. Additionally, user scenarios should act as a guide for design, not as a constraint or prescription. Following these best practices can help ensure that your user scenarios are effective and useful.

6 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?