User Essence Statement
...A user essence statement helps you figure out what’s interesting or surprising about your user.
WHY use a user essence statement
- An important principle of human-centered design is getting deep with the users you interview and observe. However, when you go deep, you can’t focus on everything. Use a user essence statement to articulate exactly why this user is important to you.
- You can also use a user essence statement to identify commonalities that will help direct your empathy. For example, if you notice that you’re really interested in one user who sees herself as a hero for showing up to work, you might seek out other people similar in this way – even if they’re demographically very different otherwise from your initial user.
HOW to use a user essence statement
- You can use the following mad libs to help frame your statement:
- [user] sees him/herself as ___________.
- For [user], ____________ is actually ____________.
- For [user], ____________ feels like ____________.
- For [user], ____________ seems like ____________.
- [user] is ______________ in a world of _____________.
- [user] is ______________ in a world where ____________.
