12 KiB
Tutorial 08: Create Your Scenario Outlines
Hands-on guide to defining user journeys with Freya's 8-question dialog
Overview
This tutorial walks you through creating scenario outlines using Freya's 8-question dialog — the structured conversation that maps user journeys across your application.
Time: 20-25 minutes
Prerequisites: Trigger Map completed (Module 06)
Agent: Freya
What you'll create: Scenario outline documents in C-UX-Scenarios/
Before You Start
You'll need:
- Your completed Trigger Map
- Understanding of your personas and their goals
- Product Brief for context
Freya will help you:
- Identify which scenarios to prioritize
- Walk through the 8-question dialog for each scenario
- Connect every answer back to your Trigger Map
- Ensure dual value (user + business)
Step 1: Start the Conversation with Freya (2 min)
Open your AI IDE and initiate:
You say:
"I want to create scenario outlines for my project. I have my Trigger Map ready. Can you help me identify and structure the key user journeys?"
Freya responds with context questions about your personas.
Share your Trigger Map:
Reference your B-Trigger-Map folder or summarize your personas and their primary goals.
Step 2: Freya Analyzes and Suggests Scenarios (5 min)
Ask Freya to analyze your Trigger Map:
You say:
"I'd like you to analyze my Trigger Map and suggest prioritized scenarios. Here's my Product Brief and Trigger Map..." (share the files)
Freya analyzes automatically:
Freya examines:
- Your top business goals (from Product Brief)
- Priority personas (from Trigger Map workshops)
- Top driving forces per persona
- Feature-to-driver connections
Then suggests scenarios ranked by strategic value.
Freya presents ranked suggestions:
Freya: "Based on your Trigger Map, I've identified 8 potential scenarios. Here are the top 3 by strategic value:
01: Harriet's Family Setup (Priority #1)
- Business Goal: BG01 - Multi-user adoption
- Persona: Harriet the Household Manager (your #1 priority)
- Driver: Need to get whole family on same page (her #1 driver)
- Why this matters: Household with multiple members = higher retention
02: Felix's Daily Overview (Priority #2)
- Business Goal: BG02 - Daily active usage
- Persona: Felix the Full-Stack (Harriet's spouse)
- Driver: Quick visibility into what's needed (his #2 driver)
- Why this matters: Enables daily habit formation
03: Kids' Task Completion (Priority #3)
- Business Goal: BG02 - Daily active usage
- Persona: Kids (Junior Members)
- Driver: Clear expectations and progress visibility
- Why this matters: Completes family loop
Should we start with 01: Harriet's Family Setup?"
You validate and adjust:
You respond:
"Yes, 01 makes sense. Let's start there."
Step 3: Walk Through the 8-Question Dialog (10 min)
Freya guides you through 8 questions, one at a time. Each answer shapes the next question.
Q1: The Transaction
Freya:
"What transaction do we need to get really right for Harriet? What's the most important thing she needs to accomplish?"
You:
"Set up her household and get at least one family member to join."
Q2: Business Goal
Freya:
"If this transaction succeeds, which business goal does it serve?"
You:
"BG01 - Multi-user adoption. Each household with multiple members means higher retention."
Q3: User & Situation
Freya:
"Tell me about Harriet in this moment. Who is she, where is she, what's happening?"
You:
"She's a mom, evening after kids are in bed. Just saw a Facebook ad for the app. She's motivated but skeptical — she's tried 2 other family apps that nobody used."
Q4: Hope & Worry
Freya:
"What does Harriet hope for and what does she fear going into this?"
You:
"Hope: Finally get the family coordinated without nagging. Worry: Another app nobody will actually use."
Q5: Device
Freya:
"What device is she on?"
You:
"Mobile — she's on her phone on the couch."
Q6: Starting Point
Freya:
"How does she actually arrive at the first screen?"
You:
"Clicks the download link from the Facebook ad, lands on the app store page, installs, opens the app."
Q7: Best Outcome
Freya:
"What does the best possible outcome look like — for Harriet AND for the business?"
You:
"Harriet: Household created, husband invited, feels like she's actually made progress. Business: Activated user plus second user invited — retention signal and network effect."
Q8: Shortest Path
Freya:
"What's the shortest path through the app to get there? Walk me through the screens."
You:
"Landing screen, then signup, then create household with a name, then invite screen where she sends invite to her husband, then dashboard showing the household is set up."
Freya structures it:
1. **Welcome Screen** — Sees value proposition, taps "Start Free"
2. **Signup** — Enters email and password
3. **Create Household** — Names the household
4. **Invite Family** — Sends invite to husband
5. **Dashboard** — Sees household created, invite sent ✓
Step 4: Review the Complete Scenario (2 min)
Freya presents the full outline:
# 01: Harriet's Family Setup
**Project:** Dog Walker App
**Created:** 2026-02-26
**Method:** Whiteport Design Studio (WDS)
---
## Transaction (Q1)
Set up household and get first family member to join
## Business Goal (Q2)
BG01 - Multi-user adoption
Objective: Drive household activation with multiple members
## User & Situation (Q3)
Harriet (Primary) — Mom, evening after kids in bed.
Just saw Facebook ad, motivated but skeptical after 2 failed app attempts.
## Driving Forces (Q4)
Hope: Finally get the family coordinated without nagging
Worry: Another app nobody will actually use
## Device & Starting Point (Q5 + Q6)
Mobile — Clicks download link from Facebook ad, installs app
## Best Outcome (Q7)
User: Household created, husband invited, feels like real progress
Business: Activated user + second user invited (retention signal + network effect)
## Shortest Path (Q8)
1. **Welcome Screen** — Sees value proposition, taps "Start Free"
2. **Signup** — Enters email and password
3. **Create Household** — Names the household
4. **Invite Family** — Sends invite to husband
5. **Dashboard** — Sees household created, invite sent ✓
## Trigger Map Connections
Persona: Harriet (Primary)
Want: Get whole family on same page
Fear: Another app nobody will use
Business Goal: BG01 - Multi-user adoption
## Pages in This Scenario
| Page | Folder | Purpose | Exit Action |
|------|--------|---------|-------------|
| 1.1 | 1.1-welcome-screen/ | See value, start signup | Tap "Start Free" |
| 1.2 | 1.2-signup/ | Create account | Submit credentials |
| 1.3 | 1.3-create-household/ | Name the household | Enter name, continue |
| 1.4 | 1.4-invite-family/ | Invite first member | Send invite |
| 1.5 | 1.5-dashboard/ | See success confirmation | Scenario complete ✓ |
Verify and adjust:
"Does this capture the journey accurately? Anything missing or incorrect?"
Step 5: After Each Scenario — Choose What's Next
After completing a scenario, Freya presents options:
Freya: "Scenario 01 complete! What would you like to do?
[N] Define the next scenario — 02: Felix's Daily Overview [O] Outline scenario pages — create page folders for scenario 01 [D] Start designing — create first page and jump to Phase 4 [C] Continue to overview — when all scenarios are done"
Choose based on your workflow:
- [N] to keep outlining scenarios (most common)
- [O] to detail the pages in this scenario before moving on
- [D] to jump straight into designing the first page
- [C] only when ALL planned scenarios are complete
Step 6: Continue with Remaining Scenarios (5 min)
Work through remaining scenarios using the same 8-question dialog:
You:
"Let's do [N] — next scenario."
Freya:
"Great. Let's work on 02: Felix's Daily Overview.
Q1: What transaction do we need to get right for Felix?"
Work through Q1-Q8 again. Each scenario follows the same dialog pattern but the answers are unique to the persona and their situation.
Freya tracks progress:
"We've completed:
- 01: Harriet's Family Setup ✓
- 02: Felix's Daily Overview ✓
- 03: Kids' Task Completion (next)
These 3 cover your core activation flow. Ready for 03?"
Step 7: Save the Scenarios (2 min)
Freya saves each scenario:
C-UX-Scenarios/
├── 01-harriets-family-setup/
│ └── 01-harriets-family-setup.md
├── 02-felixs-daily-overview/
│ └── 02-felixs-daily-overview.md
├── 03-kids-task-completion/
│ └── 03-kids-task-completion.md
Confirm the structure:
"I've created the scenario folders with outline documents. Each scenario is ready for the next steps: page outlining, conceptual sketching, or detailed specifications."
What You've Created
For each scenario, the 8-question dialog produced:
- Transaction (Q1) — What the user needs to accomplish
- Business Goal (Q2) — Strategic connection to Trigger Map
- User & Situation (Q3) — Persona + real-life context
- Driving Forces (Q4) — Hope and worry, visceral and specific
- Device (Q5) — Design approach
- Starting Point (Q6) — How they actually arrive
- Best Outcome (Q7) — Success for user AND business
- Shortest Path (Q8) — Linear page flow, no branches
- Trigger Map Connections — Explicit link back to strategic foundation
- Pages Table — Page folders ready for Phase 4
What Happens Next
Immediate:
- Each scenario is a roadmap for design
- Pages from Q8 become screens to sketch
- The 8-question answers inform every design decision
Next Module:
- Module 09: Conceptual Sketching — Visualize the default state of each page
- Take one scenario and sketch what the user sees at each step
Tips for Success
DO:
- Keep Q8 linear (zero "if" statements)
- Make Q4 visceral — "interested" is too weak
- Connect every scenario to the Trigger Map (Q2)
- Be specific in Q3 — who, where, when, why
- Make Q7 measurable for both sides
DON'T:
- Design pages in isolation
- Include edge cases in Q8 (those go in page specs)
- Create more scenarios than you need for MVP
- Use generic driving forces in Q4
- Skip Q2 — every scenario needs a business goal
Common Questions
Q: How many scenarios should I have? A: For MVP, typically 3-8. Each persona's primary transaction = one scenario. Start core, expand later.
Q: What if a scenario feels too long? A: If Q8 has more than 7 steps, consider splitting into two scenarios. Look for natural milestones.
Q: Where do error states go? A: In page specifications (Module 11), not the scenario outline. Q8 is the sunshine path.
Q: Can one page appear in multiple scenarios? A: Absolutely. The Dashboard might be the end of scenario 01 and the start of scenario 02.
Q: Conversation mode or Suggest mode? A: Conversation (default) is best for learning. Suggest is faster when you have a detailed Trigger Map and want Freya to draft all 8 answers for your review.
You've Completed Module 08!
Your scenarios are outlined. You know:
- The journeys you're designing (Q1 + Q8)
- Who is taking each journey (Q3 + Q4)
- What value each journey delivers (Q2 + Q7)
Next Module
Module 09: Conceptual Sketching →
Time to visualize what the user sees at each step.
← Back to Lesson 3 | Back to Module Overview
Part of Module 08: Outline Scenarios