User Story

Definition

A user story is a fictional one-sentence story told from the persona’s point of view to inspire and inform design decisions.

User Story

The Happy Path

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

Edge Case

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.

  • Create personas and user stories
  • Thoroughly review the project before launch
  • Use Wireframes

User Journey

A user journey is the series of experiences a user has as they achieve a specific goal. User journeys built off the personas and stories you've already created.

User 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.

Benefits of User Journey Mapping

  • Helps UX Designer create obstacle free paths for users
  • Reduces impact of designer bias
  • Highlights new painpoints
  • Identifies improvment opportunities