The Role of Personas, Design Briefs, Stories, Storyboards and
Wireframes in the Ideation/Design/Build Process
Paul Sherman
Sherman Group User Experience

It’s
easy
to
become
trapped
into
a
product-­‐
or
market-­‐
centered
perspective…
and
lose
site
of
what
the
customer
needs.
The
UX
field
gives
you
tools
to
put
and
keep
focus
on
the
customer,
release
after
release.
2

It’s
easy,
actually…
Go
visit
the
customers
Profile
them
Build
personas
from
the
profiles
Tell
the
customers’
stories
(“agile”-­‐ly)
Illustrate
the
stories
3

And
most
importantly…
Socialize
and
share
your
customer
insights!
I’ll
tell
you
how
at
the
end.
4

5

Too
product-­‐focused:
Thinking
about
the
product
in
terms
of
the
features
it
supports.
6

Leads
to
feature
matrix
thinking…
And
a
“presence-­‐
absence”
mindset…
Which
de-­‐
emphasizes
designing
to
satisfy
users’
goals
and
workflow.
7

Too
market-­‐focused:
Thinking
about
customers
at
the
market
level,
not
in
terms
of
individuals,
their
goals,
and
their
workflow.
8

Knowing
your
segment
and
competitors
doesn’t
tell
you
how
to
design
the
product!
9

 Know
the
product
 Know
the
market
 Know
the
people
who
use
the
product!
10

That
is…
know
your
customers’…
 Capabilities
and
constraints
 Goals
 Workflow
 Context
of
use
Note:
you
can’t
get
this
from
a
survey
or
a
focus
group
session.
11

12

Go
visit
the
customers
where
they
use
your
product
or
service…
not
in
a
focus
group
facility!
13

Why?
Two
great
reasons:
1. Self-­‐report
is
unreliable.
(People
don’t
mean
to
lie,
they
just
do.)
2. Remove
people
from
their
context,
and
you
can’t
see
–
and
they
can’t
remember
-­‐
the
details
of
their
tasks.
14

15

“Can’t
you
just
figure
that
stuff
out?”
Not
so
much…
Good
product
design
flows
from
understanding
the
users…and
understanding
them
means
observing
them.
16

“We
don’t
have
time
to
go
into
the
field!”
I
call
BS
on
that…
It’s
not
hard
or
time-­‐consuming
if
done
right…plus
it
prevents
churn.
17

“It’s
too
expensive!”
You
can
do
quality
user
research
for
a
few
thousand
dollars.
If
you
can’t
afford
that,
you
have
other
problems.
18

Generating
insights
from
field
observation
is
not
hard
or
time-­‐consuming.
But
sharing
and
socializing
it
is
critical.
We’ll
cover
this
before
the
end
of
the
session.
19

Have
I
convinced
you
that
you
need
qualitative,
detailed,
individual-­‐level
user
research?
If
not,
let
me
tell
you
a
story…
20

At
my
former
company
we
nearly
missed
a
big
gap
in
the
product
experience…
…and
we
only
found
the
problem
through
field
observations.
21

What
did
we
miss?
The
install
experience
was
too
hard.
We
thought
it
was
decent.
but
when
we
took
the
beta
to
new
customers
and
watched
what
happened…
we
wanted
to
cry.
22

…unless
we
watched
them!
23

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1. Converting
observation
insights
into
useful
product
management
and
design
guidance.
2. Using
the
content
to
socialize
insights,
attain
alignment,
and
maintain
focus
on
the
customer.
25

How
many
of
you
write
business
requirements
documents?
26

Does
it
look
something
like
this?
27

28

Where’s
the
user
in
that?
Yeah,
there’s
actors…but
does
UML
really
tell
you
anything
about
your
users?
29

A
“different”
kind
of
BRD…
[show
sample]
30

A
BRD
with
business
requirements
AND…
 A
design
brief
 Personas
built
from
user
observations
 User
stories
(in
agile
format)
 Storyboards
with
wireframes
31

You
tell
me.
32

Don’t
make
it
too
complex!
Include
stuff
like
goals,
tasks
and
context.
But
don’t
go
crazy…
it’s
not
rocket
science!
33

34

35

Again,
don’t
go
crazy.
Let
me
show
you
wireframes
and
storyboard
for
part
of
an
app
I’m
working
on
this
week.
Context:
I
am
designing
a
way
for
people
to
create
an
update,
like
on
Twitter
or
Facebook.
36

37

38

39

40

41

42

Your
immediate
goal
is
to
get
the
product
built
right.
But
what
you
really
want
to
do
is
get
your
organization
aligned
on
the
customer
experience.
How?
43

Placemats,
pictures,
posters,
wall
space…
44

What’s
my
point?
When
you
go
to
the
field,
profile
users,
and
build
personas,
you’re
gaining
incredible
insight
into
your
customer
base.
Bring
your
developers
and
management
along
on
this
journey!
45

If
you
can’t
physically
bring
them
to
the
field,
share
what
you’ve
gleaned
from
the
field
back
at
the
office:
Hang
it
on
your
walls
&
boards
Make
“persona
placemats”
and
leave
them
in
the
lunchroom
Put
persona
or
profile
“posters”
in
every
meeting
room
46

This
is
how
you
align
your
organization
on
the
user
experience
–
by
sharing
the
field
insights.
47

 Visit
your
customers
in
their
environment!
 Profile
them,
make
personas
and
tell
their
stories.
 Storyboard
their
stories
with
wireframes.
 Get
your
organization
to
really
understand
the
customer….not
just
the
market
or
the
product!
48

What
are
your
experiences
in
this
area?
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Paul
Sherman
Sherman
Group
User
Experience
www.shermanux.com
paul@shermanux.com
Twitter:
@pjsherman
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