What’s the Best Way to Share User Needs
Great products standout because of their user experience. With features built with your target market’s workflow in mind. So, what is the best way to share product opportunities with your team? To encourage the best possible solution for your users and business.
Building a product includes research, ideation, design, and delivery. A product development framework gives your team a clear process to follow. Setting more focus on developing the digital product strategy.
The full product development team (PM/Design/Engineering) may lose sight of their users. Apply SaaS app design basics to empower your team to build better. Context about the user journey gives your team room to innovate at each step. So you can unlock more value for your customer base.
We will cover 3 ways to do this: job stories, user stories, and use cases. Sharing the pros and cons of each method. Recommending when and how to use each method with your team. Let your team bring their own expertise into user-focused design. Benefitting your team culture and digital product alike.
What are User Stories?
What are the benefits of applying User Stories
Simple and easy to understand
User stories use simple terms and are easily structured. Making it possible for all team members to write them, regardless of technical expertise.
Focus on user goals
By framing features in terms of user goals and benefits, user stories keep the team focused on delivering value to the user.
Help prioritize features based on user value
User stories enable teams prioritize features based on their importance to the user and the value they deliver.
What are the cons of User Stories
May not capture all interactions & edge cases
User stories often focus on a single goal and may not account for complicated user flows or edge cases.
Need to be well defined
Poorly written user stories can be confusing, leading teams to solve the wrong user problem.
Doesn’t clarify why people want a feature
User stories focus on specific goals and may not capture the full context of the user’s situation or underlying motivations.
How Job Stories Shape Expected Outcomes
Job stories let you work your way backwards from the user’s expected outcome. Enabling your team to look at your user’s reason to to start a workflow. Understanding the motivation for using your feature, and the expected outcome.
Here’s the template for job stories: When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome].
Keep job stories clear so they’re understood easily. Focusing on the context and the user’s intent. Job stories help product teams build empathy and understanding of user situations. Learn more on jtbd.info.
Why use job stories?
Looks at the end-to-end user journey
Job stories put the user’s needs and motivations at the forefront, ensuring that the product addresses real-world situations.
Work backwards from the desired outcome
Fill the gaps between your target market’s desired outcomes, and the situations they experience. Look at creating a user-friendly way to guide users to success.
Build empathy for your customers
Make your features functional and usable. Understand why people rely on your software, and how you can help them succeed.
What are the considerations with Job Stories
May not clearly capture all edge cases
Job stories focus on the user’s core needs, and may not account for all complexities or edge cases.
Does not cover technical implementation
The job story format lends itself to shaping meetings. Where product managers, designers, and developers flesh out technical implementation.
What are Use Cases?
Use cases are detailed, step-by-step descriptions of how a user interacts with a system to achieve a specific goal. They include preconditions, postconditions, and alternate flows, providing a comprehensive view of the user’s interaction with the product.
What are the benefits of Use Cases
Step-by-step user interactions
Use cases offer a detailed breakdown of user flows, ensuring that all steps and interactions are accounted for.
Clarity on user journeys
Use cases cover a lot of scenarios. Including edge cases and exceptions, so your team gets a better understanding of the desired behavior.
Help out with technical requirements
By detailing user interactions, use cases help teams identify the technical requirements and expected system behavior.
What are the drawbacks of Use Cases
May be more time-consuming
Comprehensive use cases require a lot of time and effort. Keeping them up-to-date can be challenging.
Might not be scalable in some cases
The granular nature of use cases may not be suitable for high-level planning or feature prioritization.
May become outdated
As products evolve, use cases may become outdated, requiring frequent revisions to maintain accuracy.
What’s the right way to share user goals
With an understanding of job stories, user stories, and use cases, the question remains: which approach should you choose? The answer depends on your project’s specific needs, complexity, and the preferences of your team.
When to apply user stories, job stories, and use cases
How complex is your project?
For simpler projects, user stories may suffice, while more complex projects may benefit from the detailed nature of use cases.
What works for your team?
Choose an approach that your team is comfortable with, that doesn’t disrupt flow, and can effectively implement.
What will balance user-centricity and your team’s capacity?
If your primary focus is on understanding user motivations and context, job stories may be the most suitable choice.
How much details does your team need, to work best?
Use cases provide the most comprehensive view of user interactions, while user stories and job stories offer a higher-level perspective.
Many teams find success by combining elements of different approaches to create a hybrid method that suits their specific needs. For example, you might use job stories to capture user motivations, user stories to define features, and use cases to detail critical user flows.
How should you share user requirements?
Job stories, user stories, and use cases each offer unique benefits in capturing user requirements. By understanding the pros and cons of each approach, you can make an informed decision about which method, or combination of methods, will best serve your project.
Whether your building a SaaS features or a website, you can test out these solutions. Remember, the ultimate goal is to create products that meet user needs and deliver value. By staying focused on the user and continuously refining your approach, you’ll be well on your way to building successful, user-centric products.
Bicoastal offers UX Design services to help tech startups deliver great user experiences. We specialize in responsive web apps, Android mobile, and native iOS applications.