User Stories and User Flows

User stories are an essential part of the UX Design process, at this point we’re transitioning from the problem the user is facing to the solution we’re providing as UX designers. They answer the question who, what and why.

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

It takes the format:
As a type of user (who), I want to action (what) so that benefit (why).

Example:
As a product owner, I want to upload my products so that I can find a buyer and easily get paid.

It is a simple format that ensures solutions are user centred. It is pretty easy and can be easily understood by every other team member.

After proffering solutions to all the possible problem your persona will encounter in form of user stories, as a UX designer, you can predict how a user will interact with these solutions. A clear and simple way to outline this interaction is by creating a User Flow.

What is a User Flow?
A user flow is the path taken by a typical user on an app or a website, showing how they complete a task from start to finish. User flows are often based on ‘user stories’.

The goal of a user flow is to show how a specific task or goal is going to be accomplished. This way, there is a clear overview of the products functionality before designing.

Meanwhile, userflows don’t include polished content that will appear in the final product. Instead, they include shapes that represent different interactions. These shapes include:

• Circle: symbolise the beginning or end of a flow.
• Rectangle: symbolise the screen a user will interact with while completing a flow.
• Diamond: symbolise the decisions users make, and either moves them forward through the flow or back to an earlier part of the flow.
• Lines: these provide direction on the user flow based on a user’s decision.

Designing with the knowledge of your user’s needs at core front will make one a better problem solver and will keep users engaged with the product -simply because the product was built for them.

Until I come your way again, stay learning!✨

P.S: I recently got accepted into the Ayagigs Web3 Fellowship, sponsored by Coinbase. These past few weeks has been really challenging and rewarding. It has been yet another opportunity for me to unlearn, learn and relearn.
Up next is the core learning phase, where we will be taught the nitty gritty of web3 and how to solve problems in the space.