Module 2: Creating user stories and user journey maps

Hi there in this part of the course,
we’ll continue to explore some of the ways UX designers build empathy with users
of the products they designed for. We’ll start with user stories which
are fictional, one sentence stories that connect the needs of a potential
user to a specific action and benefit. After that, you’ll learn about user
journey maps, a tool used by UX designers to understand the obstacles a user
faces while interacting with a product. Lastly, we’ll explore some strategies for keeping accessibility top of mind during
the empathize phase of the design process. So let’s get started.

Which of the following user stories is complete?

As a team manager, I want to streamline administrative processes so that my employees remain productive

This user story is complete with a type of user, action, and benefit. A complete user story keeps the problem user-centered, actionable, and clear.

Hey, there. Now that we
know all about personas, it’s time for some stories. A user story is a fictional
one-sentence story told from a persona’s point of view to inspire and inform
design decisions. It introduces the user, lays out an obstacle, and
states their ultimate goal. Don’t get confused if you
notice some designers refer to these as
scenarios or user cases, they mean the same thing. Now, let’s check out the goal, structure, and benefits
of user stories. The user story expands
on the persona and deepens your understanding
of a user group. Here are some cool things a
user story can do for you. User stories prioritize
design goals. If you have a lot of
user needs to consider, user stories,
determine which ones are the most critical to resolve. User stories also unite the
team around a clear goal. A good user story
can also inspire empathetic design decisions by making our approach
user-centered, also known as user-centric.
And finally, user stories personalize pitches
to stakeholders. You aren’t just presenting
your design update ideas. You’re demonstrating
how the updates will help specific
types of people. So how do you write a user story? Like a classic short story, user stories have a hero with an ultimate goal and a conflict that keeps them
from conquering that goal. To write a user story, we follow this simple formula. As a type of user, I want to action,
so that benefit. All that’s left now is filling
in the missing pieces. Type of user describes
who we are designing for. Action is what the user
hopes will happen. And finally, benefit is why the user wants the
action to happen. This formula keeps the problem user-centered,
actionable, and clear. Let’s think about a user story that I experience all the time. As an online shopper, I want to receive a
text when the item arrives so that I can
pick it up right away. So now you know what
a user story is, why it’s important, and
how it’s structured. Up next, you’ll
learn how to predict and prevent a bad
user experience.

What happens when a user stays on the happy path in a user story?

The user reaches their goal without issue because everything goes as expected.

Keeping users on the happy path helps them have a good user experience, which is the designer’s goal.

Welcome back. With user
stories, just like any story, there’s always a
chance that things might not go exactly
how you want them. The hero detective doesn’t
always crack the case, and your user doesn’t
always reach their goal. Luckily for your user, you can change their
experience as a UX designer. When building a new
or improved product, the designer’s goal is to keep all users on the happy path. The happy path describes a user story with
a happy ending. For this user,
everything goes as they expect and they reach
their goal without issue. Unfortunately, for other users, things don’t go
quite as smoothly. For example, let’s say
Iyla, a Londoner, wants to buy
birthday flowers for her friend Priya in California. She visits the website of a California-based flower
shop and gets to work designing a bouquet of Priya’s favorite flowers and writing a meaningful message. Everything is going well. Iyla’s on the happy path. But when Iyla asked
to enter her address, there’s a field that
asks for her home state. Iyla doesn’t have a home state, she lives in London, England. She tries to skip that field, assuming the site will let her, but the state field is
required to proceed. She reaches a dead end
on the happy path. After all that work, has to close the
website and find another way to get
flowers for her friend. In the design world
Iyla and others like her are called
edge case users. An edge case is a
rare situation or unexpected problem
that interrupts a standard user experience. Good UX anticipates
edge cases and reroute users back to the happy path when things don’t go as planned. In edge cases, the obstacle is often beyond the
user’s control to fix. Think back to Iyla
who only wants to wish her friend in
America a happy birthday. There is no way for her
to skip the state field, so there is no way for
Iyla to successfully buy Priya’s flowers on
the shop’s website. Unfortunately, Iyla’s
user experience is unrepairable on her end. Let’s check out some UX design
pro tips for spotting and resolving potential edge cases before the product launches, so other users don’t end
up in Iyla’s situation. Pro tip 1: create personas
and user stories. If UX designers make sure their
personas and user stories account for a wide variety
of users and problems, they can keep even the most vulnerable users
on the happy path. Pro tip 2: thoroughly review
the project before launch. In the rush to launch a product, UX designers might focus
only on the happy path. Giving the project a final good review from
the user’s perspective, helps designers
identify edge cases. Pro tip 3: use wireframes. You’ll learn how to
create wireframes later. Wireframes help
visualize the project, which makes it
easier to identify potential user pain
points and fix them before launch for folks who
are not visually impaired. We all have that
friend who always has whatever you need
when you need it. For example, if you’re
at an amusement park having lunch and dropped
your fork on the floor, this friend’s got an
extra fork ready to go. Need an extra pair
of nylon footies to try on some fancy flats? They’ve got you covered. As a UX designer, you want to be that
friend to all users. You want to be able to anticipate what needs
they might have, whether they’re on the
happy path or not. Okay, so far we’ve gotten to know
our users and their stories. Up next, we’ll go on a
journey. The user journey.

Hey, my name is Ayan, and I am
a visual designer at Google. An edge case is a situation
within a product experience that the product team doesn’t think it’s
very likely to happen, or that is outside of the typical flow
within that product. When you’re trying to figure out what the edge cases
are for your product, you really need to
actually sit down with users and see how their real life actually
shakes out with your product. Often what you think is going to happen when your app is
in the hands of a user, is actually not what happens. Identifying those cases
is really key to creating a harmonious experience when things don’t go the way
that you plan for them to. An edge case that I’ve
worked on semi-recently, I was the visual design lead on the Messages product at Google. It’s our texting solution. And as I was creating that brand, differentiating visually
RCS, which is the future of texting, things like typing
indicators, versus SMS, somewhat of the past of texting, the typical protocol
that you would use to text your mom, let’s say. Creating a visual system that
would work harmoniously and these two supposedly
separate experiences make that, on the off case that
your phone loses access, you would still have a
harmonious experience. As a visual designer, I really wanted to make sure that these two spaces, that
we didn’t intend to ever live together, still
would make sense if it did. And that actually in practice, that happened quite a bit. When you see screenshots
of our texting app, you’ll notice that
whether or not it’s an RCS versus SMS or maybe
a combination of the both, it should still look beautiful. As we were working
on this project and really creating a new branch
for the Messages app, I worked really closely with product management
to come up with a strategic plan so that as this redesign lived
out in the wild, so to speak, we had a plan
for the years to come. While RCS was our big
bet for the future, we wanted to make sure
that the SMS reality of that time would be harmonious as our product
matured over the years. Identifying future use cases versus current use cases really helped us identify
these edge cases that would be
prevalent current day, that maybe wouldn’t
be so prevalent in our hopeful future. I get so proud when I see screenshots of text
message conversations out there on social media and sometimes you see SMS with RCS, that light blue bubble with that dark blue bubble and
I’m proud to say that we identified that
edge case before it became an issue for
our brand perception.

What are some benefits of user journey mapping? Select all that apply.

Identifies improvement opportunities

One of the benefits of user journey mapping is being able to identify improvement opportunities by illustrating what the user goes through to achieve their goals. Other advantages include: highlighting new pain points, reducing the impact of designer bias, and helping create obstacle-free paths for users.

Highlights new pain points

Use journey mapping highlights new pain points that a designer may not have thought about by illustrating what the user goes through to achieve their goals. Other advantages include: identifying improvement opportunities, reducing the impact of designer bias, and helping create obstacle-free paths for users.

Reduces the impact of designer bias

User journey mapping reduces the impact of designer bias by illustrating what the user goes through to achieve their goals because it focuses on the persona’s needs instead of the designer’s. Other advantages include: identifying improvement opportunities, highlighting new pain points, and helping create obstacle-free paths for users.

Helps create obstacle-free paths for users

User journey mapping helps to create obstacle-free paths for users by illustrating what the user goes through to achieve their goals. Other advantages include: identifying improvement opportunities, highlighting new pain points, and reducing the impact of designer bias.

Now that you’ve
planned and prepared for happy paths and edge cases, let’s discover what user
journeys are all about. A user journey is the
series of experiences a user has as they
achieve a specific goal. User journeys built
off the persona’s and stories you’ve
already created. They help you think and
feel like the user, which is super important. If you can’t put yourself
in the user’s shoes, you can’t be sure your design
will really help them. Before you start
the user journey, you need a journey map. A journey map is just
what it sounds like; an illustration of what the user goes through to
achieve their goals. Think of it like reading a book. If the persona is
your character, the user story is your plot, and the journey map is
your story outline. First, let’s do a
little experiment. Imagine we want to drive
to the beach for a swim. We can pull up a
map on our phone to get an overview
of the best route. We know our starting
point and our end point. Let’s go for a drive. So far, so good. Looks like a traffic
jam up ahead. Luckily, the map app gives us a detour route to
avoid the traffic. Map apps help drivers avoid
obstacles along their route. The same idea applies
to journey maps. A user journey map helps UX designers create obstacle
free paths for users. That’s the first benefit
to user journey mapping. Now let’s go over some more. A user journey map reduces
the impact of designer bias, which you might remember as the tendency for the designer to design according
to their own needs and wants instead of a user’s. Creating a user journey map
lets you thoroughly document the entire sequence
of events and interactions a user experiences, including the user’s
interaction with your design. That way you can really focus
on how a specific persona, not you, thinks and feels at
every step of the journey. User journey mapping also
highlights new pain points. For example, say your persona, Kindred, is biracial. Her user journey is spilling
out her census info online. Everything is going well
until it’s time for Kindred to select her race
from the drop-down menu. Suddenly she hits a roadblock. There’s no option for her to identify herself as
both Black and Asian. That’s a big pain point. If you yourself aren’t biracial, you might not have
predicted this problem. But by creating the
persona of Kindred, giving her a story
and mapping out her journey using a
user journey map, you’re able to clearly
identify the issue she’s experiencing and
improve the design. This brings us to the final key benefit of journey mapping. Identify improvement
opportunities. In Kindred’s example, you
could add an option in the menu for users to write
in their own racial identity. Or maybe you could
add another field to the drop-down menu for
multi-racial citizens. Improving the UX here can
make a big difference. How do we map out
a user journey? One action at a time. Let’s say our persona, Jamal, comes from a town of 500
people in rural Mississippi. He uses a wheelchair
to get around and he’s visiting New York
City for the first time. Today. He wants to fulfill
his dream of going all the way to the top of
the Empire State Building. How do we map out his journey? To start, identify
the first task the user needs to complete. In this case, Jamal
needs to find a subway route that will take him to the Empire
State Building. Next, list all the things the user needs to do
to reach their goal. Here’s a list of
Jamal’s main tasks. Task 1, determine the subway
line and route to take. Task 2, find the nearest station with
wheelchair accessibility. Task 3, buy a ticket. Task 4, find the right
platform and make sure the train is headed toward the Empire State Building
and not away from it. Task 5, board the subway. Task 6, find the right exit. The next action in mapping a
user journey is describing all the smaller
things the user must accomplish before graduating
to the next main task. Here’s what that might
look like for Jamal. So that’s it. You got Jamal all the way to the
Empire State Building. Your work here is
done. Not exactly. You’ve completed Jamal’s
physical journey, but you still need to consider
his emotional journey too. The third action in mapping a
user journey is identifying the user’s likely emotions as
they go from task to task. For example, imagine
how Jamal might feel the first time he looks
at the subway line map. He might be confused and
intimidated or imagine that Jamal’s purchased
his ticket and is trying to get to
the right platform. He can’t use the stairs, so he’ll need to find
an elevator or ramp. The elevator might
not be working, so he has to find a ramp. This experience could
make Jamal feel overwhelmed and make
him feel excluded. There’s one final action in
our journey mapping exercise. Once we’ve identified
the user’s emotions, we can then identify opportunities to improve
his user experience. This is where user
journey mapping can really enhance UX design. Without mapping the actions
of Jamal’s journey. It might never have
occurred to us to add an accessibility key to the map to help users
with wheelchairs navigate the subway
stations more easily. Here’s what a completed
user journey map looks like for Jamal. Now you know how user journey is build off of user
stories and personas, you also know the benefits
of user journey maps, and you understand how
to create a journey map. Jamal’s user journey may
have come to an end, but we’ve still
got a long way to go in our UX design journey

Why is it important to consider someone with a disability when creating personas, user stories, and user journeys? Select all that apply.

To consider those experiencing permanent, temporary, or situational disabilities

Considering accessibility in design, especially during the creation of personas, user stories, and user journeys, extends its benefits to many people. Whether they are people experiencing permanent, temporary, or situational disabilities, it’s important to remember that people with and without disabilities share the same goal for any given user problem that a design is trying to solve.

To avoid the serious physical or emotional consequences when accessibility needs are not addressed.

It’s important to consider someone with a disability when creating personas, user stories, and user journeys because not addressing the needs of someone with a disability can have serious consequences. Consider if fire safety escape routes didn’t include routes for wheelchairs, or if grocery stores and medical practices didn’t include accessible entrances.

Hi again. You just
learned about personas, user stories, and user journeys. I’m here to help you learn how to consider accessibility
in each of these. Why do we need to consider
personas, user stories, and user journeys of
someone with a disability? Well, people with disabilities
share the same goal for any given user problem that your design is
trying to solve. Additionally, accessibility
is not just designing to include a group of users
with varying abilities. Instead, it extends to anyone who is
experiencing a permanent, temporary, or
situational disability. Designing with accessibility
in mind means making sure, Betty, a user with
only one arm; Angela, a user with a
sprained wrist; and Juan, a user holding
a colicky newborn, all have everything they need to stay happily on
their user journeys. Betty’s disability is permanent,
Angela’s is temporary, and Juan’s is situational, but they all need to achieve their user goal
with only one hand. You want to design products
that can be used by everyone. As UX designers, we don’t
want to leave Betty, Angela, or Juan behind. It’s critical to understand
how a person with a disability might have a
slightly different journey due to the fact that
their needs may not have been addressed during
the initial design process. Sometimes not
addressing those needs can have serious consequences. Consider fire safety
escape routes. Usually, people
are advised to use the stairs to exit a
building during a fire. But what about people who use
wheelchairs to get around? They’re not considered in those evacuation plans and maps. Accessibility should
matter to all of us. Start familiarizing yourself with the experience that people with a disability might have
when using digital products. It’s important to have
conversations with people with disabilities and immerse yourself in the assistive technology
that they might use. Learning more about
assistive technologies, might mean watching videos
of experts using them. There are plenty of videos out there demonstrating just that, or you could even try an
assistive technology yourself. Keyboard interaction models serve as a great starting point for understanding the basic
interaction patterns of ATs. You might generally use a mouse pointer with
your computer and not realize that there are moments when you rely
on a keyboard instead. For example, when you’re
filling out a form like this, you might use your
mouse to navigate to a new form field, like name. Then you might press
“Enter” or “Return” on your keyboard to submit the form, instead of clicking
the button with your mouse. Some people rely solely
on the keyboard to interact with websites
at all times. So all websites need to
support keyboard input and navigation to comply with the requirements of the
Americans with Disabilities Act. By doing so, you also
enable other ATs, like switch devices, to properly interact with
the same website. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of designing
for accessibility. UX designers empathize with
their potential users, which includes people
with disabilities. Coming up, we’ll explore how
designing for accessibility can end up benefiting
everyone too. See you there.

What is the curb-cut effect?

A phenomenon that describes how products and policies designed for people with disabilities often end up helping everyone.

The curb-cut effect is a phenomenon that describes how products and policies designed for people with disabilities often end up helping everyone.

Hi again. Want to
hear a fun fact? One of the first curb
cuts in the U.S. was installed in Michigan in 1945. You’ve probably used
a curb cut yourself. A curb cut is the name
for the slope of the sidewalk that creates a ramp with the adjoining street. Curb cuts are usually
found at intersections. Thanks to curb cuts, people with wheelchairs,
leg braces, or crutches can navigate their neighborhoods with
a lot more freedom. But, funny thing: The benefits of
curb cuts extend to everyone, from people pushing
strollers to bicyclists, movers, and elderly people. Chances are curb cuts
have helped you, too. Curb cuts have become such a
popular example of designing for accessibility that there’s now a whole concept
named after it. The curb-cut effect is a
phenomenon that describes how products and policies
designed for people with disabilities often end
up helping everyone. Let’s check out some more
examples of this effect. Today, most crosswalks in major cities across
the United States come equipped with signals that indicate that it’s safe for
someone to cross the street. There’s a visual signal, like a symbol of
a person walking. There’s an auditory signal,
like a series of beeps. The auditory signals
even speed up to let people with vision disabilities
know that their time to cross the street safely
is ending. And there’s a tactile signal, like the bumpy blister paving
on the sidewalk’s curb. The physical sensation
of the tactile paving indicates that they’ve safely made it to the next sidewalk. But these signals help
everyone. Think about a sighted person who is focused on something other
than the cross-walk, like a new text message, the sequence of beeps and the textured ground
designed to help people with vision disabilities will help the distracted person too. Or consider this: If you’ve
ever broken your leg, you know how challenging it
can be to do everyday things, like go down a flight of stairs. When you design features
for someone with a permanent limited
mobility, like elevators, power lifts, or wide aisles
to accommodate wheelchairs, you’ll end up helping an
even broader range of users. Similarly, if you’re a
sighted person who has tried to watch a breaking news
story on TV in a noisy bar, chances are you’ve been helped
out by closed captioning. You don’t have to hear the news anchor as long as
you can read what they’re saying. And since closed
captioning is multilingual, users who aren’t fluent in
the language being spoken can understand what’s being said by reading closed captioning
in their native language. Now, let’s think
about products and services that are inaccessible. As a security measure, many websites automatically time a user out if they haven’t
been active for two minutes. However, we live
in a world full of neurologically diverse
people who might need more time filling out
a form or reading text. Designing for inclusivity
and accessibility may mean removing or
lengthening this time window. If you do that, you will help people
with neurodiversity, multitasking parents,
senior citizens, and even the folks who need more time to find
their credit cards. All these people would benefit from either removing the timer, extending the amount
of time allowed, or a timer that
prompts users with a visual or sound notification when their time is running low. To wrap up, let’s recap
what you’ve learned. As we consider the experiences of users with disabilities, we discovered how
designing for people with disabilities can
benefit everyone. Coming up, you’ll learn how to define a
problem statement.

You made it. Let’s recap some of the tools that help UX
designers empathize with users. First, you started with the
steps involved in crafting a user story based on personas
to capture their needs. Then you learned how to use edge cases to anticipate
potential issues for the user. Next, you learned about how user journey maps
are used to help UX designers understand
the challenges a user may face when trying
to use your product. Finally, you explored the
importance of creating an accessible and inclusive
design experience for users. I’ll meet you in the
next part of the course, which is about the second
phase of the design process, define. See you there.