Chapter 1: Design for behaviour, not screens, lesson 6 of 6

Make your behaviour brief

The project for chapter 1. Write one page about a product you use every week. Say who uses it, what they want, where it goes wrong, and how you know.

By Shirish Shikhrakar1 min read, 30 min of exercises

This is the real work of the chapter. You write one page about a product you use every week. It uses everything from the last five lessons.

Take your time. You can leave and come back, and it will still be here. If you get stuck on a part, open the help under it.

Write your brief, one step at a time

Your project

One page about a product you use every week. Who uses it, what they want to do, where it goes wrong, and how you know. It saves in this browser as you type. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Step 1 of 4 The person

Which product? Pick one you use every week. Example: Gmail.

Stuck? Get help with this part

Think about this: Which app did you open first today?

Who uses it, and where? Say what device they use and how rushed they are. Example: A freelance designer. She sends invoices from her phone, between client calls.

Stuck? Get help with this part

Think about this: Picture the last time someone used it. Where were they, and what else was going on?

What do they want? Write one sentence, in their words. Example: I want to get paid for last month's work.

Stuck? Get help with this part

Think about this: If the app vanished, what would they still need to get done?

What are they doing right now to get there? Example: Writing an email to the client and adding the invoice.

Stuck? Get help with this part

Think about this: What were they tapping or typing the last time they used it?

Step 2 of 4 Why they start, finish and come back

Frustration: where do they get stuck, slip or give up? Name one moment. Example: She sends the email and forgets the file. Now she has to send a second one.

Stuck? Get help with this part

Think about this: When did it last annoy them? What had they just tried to do?

Motivation: what keeps them going until the task is done? Example: A reply from the client that says the invoice arrived.

Stuck? Get help with this part

Think about this: What tells them that it worked?

Aspiration: who do they want to be? Why do they come back? Example: She wants to look professional to her clients.

Stuck? Get help with this part

Think about this: What would they like other people to think of them?

Step 3 of 4 Your evidence

What did you see them do? Name the trace, like an undo, a second try or a workaround. How would you count it? Example: Second emails sent a minute later, with the file and the word sorry. I would count them each week.

Stuck? Get help with this part

Think about this: What does the frustration leave behind? A second try, an undo, a note to self?

How do they think it works? Name one place where it really works a different way. Example: She thinks writing the word attached adds the file. It doesn't.

Stuck? Get help with this part

Think about this: What do they think happens when they tap the main button?

Step 4 of 4 What matters most

If every screen changed tomorrow, what one thing must the product keep doing for them? Example: Stop her before an email goes out without its file.

Stuck? Get help with this part

Think about this: Which one moment would make them leave if it broke?

What are you guessing? Write each guess as a question you could test. Example: Do people forget files more on a phone than on a laptop?

Stuck? Get help with this part

Think about this: Read your brief again. Which parts are you guessing?

Your one-page behaviour brief

Product
Who and where
Goal
Task
Frustration
Motivation
Aspiration
Evidence
How they think it works
The one thing to keep
What I still need to find out

Before you copy it, check it. Tick each one that is true. Each frustration is one moment you could point to, not a general feeling. Your evidence is what people did, not what they said. Each piece of evidence names a trace you could count. The goal is in the person's words, not the product's. Every guess is written as a question you could test.

Written by

Shirish Shikhrakar

Shirish is a Google-certified UX designer and UX engineer based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He started as a software developer, moved into product design for Silicon Valley startups, and has taught UX foundations to hundreds of designers since 2019.