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Bring your users to life with user stories and needs statements
Needs statements sometimes called point of view statements are an easy way to understand your customers wants and needs. They will show how your users align with your business or product.
They should be used after we have done at least 15 user interviews, they are a sum of what our users need or want. They are then used to help drive user stories and personas.
Once you have themed your user interview feedback via empathy maps you should start to see patterns emerge on the main needs and the reasons behind them. From that, you can create the following statements.
We met…
Who needs…
Because…
For example:
We met Sally (mum) Who needs a clear plan to help with her workouts because she has little time and a busy schedule with her family.
Once you have created 5–10 for each person you interviewed, you should get a good picture of what is important. You can then create a combined needs statement at a segment level.
Theme them
You should start to see a pattern in the needs of your users, you can then create some overarching needs statements that apply to a majority of your audience. These can then be turned into powerful user stories to inform design.
If one need keeps reoccurring then that would indicate it is a need across your different personas and market segments. The more times you see it the more important it is and should be where you start your focus.
Create user stories
User stories are created to keep the user in mind when designing your product. They are written from the user's point of view. An easy way to remember how to format them is:
Who…
What…
Why…
Who- Who is it we are designing for, you can use the real persons name or a personas name that fits the profile. Often user stories start with ‘As a (persona type)…’
