The User’s Journey by Donna Lichaw – Part 2

I took notes while reading “The User’s Journey” by Donna Lichaw. It’s a great book!

Posted by Alexandra on 20th April 2020 (about a 3 minute read).

Chapter 3: Concept stories permalink

Conceptual story model of the product illustrating big picture overview
Outlines how customers think about the product
Used to communicate core concept and value proposition
Foundation to everything that gets built
Help to answer those questions:
- Who is this product for?
  - What is their problem?
  - What is their big goal? Secondary goals?
- What is this product?
- What is the competition?
- Why might someone not want to use this product?
- How is this product better than the competition?
- What does this product need to do?
  - What is the straightforward solution to the problem?
  - What is the awesome solution to the problem?
Use concept stories to communicate a shared vision and build alignment, and to innovate and prioritise against the vision

Concept stories are illustrations of customers’ mental calculations when encountering a product; they can be aspirational if there is no data
Exposition: current state of things for the target user (character and their needs)
Inciting Incident/Problem: why can’t the customer meet their goal? What problem do they have? How do they solve it today?
Rising Action: the product comes to a rescue (should have a name and a brief description or market category); keep it short and straight to the point
“Think of a concept story as a way to visualize and bolster a short, impactful, bulletproof elevator pitch.”
Crisis: the competition – other products or services, resistance to change, etc.
Climax/Resolution: the customer overcomes the difficulties described as the problem; they way the product solves the problem is its value proposition (why is a better solution than the current one?)
Falling Action: imaginary, plausible takeaway of the story’s hero; an envisioned path forward (stay in the realm of thought and emotions)
End: the hero can see herself meet her goal

Flat stories are anticlimactic; crisis and climax add structure and excitement to the story

Features, functionality and packaging of the product need to deliver on the story that you promise

Answer questions about the target customer, what works today, their big goal, their problem, the product, the competition, hurdles or barriers, the solution, value proposition and differentiator, the ideal take-away, the ideal end state, the business goal; then map them on a narrative arc