Scenarios

Scenarios can be used to describe current or future use contexts. Scenarios illustrate stories that put the people who use or will use products and services in different contexts. Typically, scenarios are founded on observation; they bind the personal, social and technological aspects of product and service use, thus helping prevent professionals making assumptions based on their own, limited experience. Because most products and services have different kinds of users, each with their own concerns, three or four different scenarios constructed around different characters are often needed to cover the scope of product or service interactions. Scenarios may be presented as texts, storyboards, videos, plays etc. Beyond the design team, scenarios help communicate design concepts and user issues among teams of professionals from different disciplines. Scenarios can be used to communicate concepts either within an organisation or for evaluation with potential users.