Experience planning is a method aimed at scoping a product or service based on a deep understanding of customer needs, focusing on the intended outcomes rather than the specifics of design and function. It involves identifying experience goals that guide collaboration, reduce feature creep, and enhance decision-making throughout the development process. The document outlines practical steps to implement experience planning, including methods for brainstorming and refining goals, while also sharing positive feedback from users of the approach.

1. experience planning
by bwilsonvi | ux designer | bwilsonvi@gmail.com

3. what is experience planning?

4. experience planning is a method used to
scope a product or service.

5. in an ideal world this approach is informed by
a deep understanding of our customers.

6. experience planning emphasizes what a
product or service will do rather than how it will
work, or what it will look like.

7. experience planning is a collaborative,
living process, that evolves over
a period of time.

8. the primary building block of experience
planning is an experience goal.

9. what is an experience goal?

10. an experience goal represents your
customers ambition, aim, or desired result.

11. it’s easiest to think of these goals in simple
sentences. for example,“I want to be healthy.”

12. why are experience goals important?

13. they can help provide a broad view of
your product or service...

14. enable team members to collaborate and
build consensus on a project vision...

15. reduce, and even eliminate feature creep...

16. surface risks and dependencies at an
early stage...

17. provide a tool for future decision making,
and concept evaluation...

18. and finally it transitions smoothly into the
agile scrum process.

19. three categories of experience goals

20. 1
goals that change slowly if at all over time
like our earlier example “I want to be healthy.”

21. 2
specific goals that relate to the larger goal.
for example,“I want my LDL–Cholesterol
level to be below 100.”

22. 3
and goal motivation which can reveal
underlying needs. for example, because
“I want to live longer.”

23. how do I get started?

24. you will need sticky notes

25. markers

26. and foam core boards

27. how to compose a sticky note

28. lower my
LDL-level
I want to...
be low 100

29. tips

30. go for quantity...

31. find patterns and group similar notes...

32. rewrite notes to follow the same
sentence structure...

33. and of course iterate.

34. example

35. REAL WORLD EXAMPLE
kickoff meeting

36. REAL WORLD EXAMPLE
early planning progress

37. REAL WORLD EXAMPLE
planning refined

38. REAL WORLD EXAMPLE
scoped plan documented

39. follow
new s for
a specific
follow
ce lebrity
news for
a specific
movie
follow
news
from a
source
REAL WORLD EXAMPLE
document close-up

40. REAL WORLD EXAMPLE
follow a celebrity manifest in final design

41. feedback

42. I have been telling everyone about our design process and how amazing it
was! That experience was the highlight of my internship. It was fascinating to
learn a whole new way of thinking. My prior conceptions (and I think a lot of
people's) about design and development were completely topsy-turvy of
what we did. This method is much more effective! I think we designed a
better product than we would have otherwise. I know the process took
longer than what some people wanted, but I think it saved time in the end.
By thinking through every possible angle of this app in the beginning, we had
less rework and blind spots later. I can't imagine designing anything in the
future without using this process.
– Anonymous PM

43. thanks
by bwilsonvi | ux designer | bwilsonvi@gmail.com