1. Parts of a User Scenario
Lecture

2. Topic area: Professional role
Writer's question: How do my users function in their work environment? What personal, departmental, and organizational goals must the users achieve to perform their jobs successfully?

3. Topic area: Profile
Writer's question: How much do my users know about the subject matter of the program and about computers in general?

4. Topic area: Overall use of the program
Writer's question: How will my users integrate the program into their work environment? Which program tasks relate to which professional goals?

5. Topic area: Typical use of the program
Writer's question: What tasks will the user perform most usually or frequently?

6. Topic area: Documentation needed
Writer's question: What documents will I have to create to support the user's professional objectives?

7. Possible Users of the Program
What recognizable groups (teacher/student, system administrator/end user) will your users comprise? Describe each group briefly.
Provide a brief use case by representative professions in order to present a role model of how the program will serve different professional user groups.

8. Primary Issues Raised by the Program
What learning difficulties, motivational problems, and technical difficulties will your users face?

9. The User’s Tasks What actions will the user perform with the program?
What important activity sequences will the user follow that can help you organize your program operations or features?
What actions can you use as examples in your manuals or help?

10. The User’s Informational Needs
What important kinds and forms of information does the user need in order to put the program to work?
With whom does the user communicate, and in what forms and media?

11. The User’s Work Motivation
What work motivations affect the user?

12. The User’s Range of Computer Experience
Describe the kinds of novice, experienced, and expert behavior exhibited by the user. Pay attention to the numbers and kinds of programs, degree of technical knowledge, user attitudes toward computing, and the user’s learning behavior.

13. The User’s Knowledge of the Subject Matter of the Program
What kinds of vocabulary reinforcement and subject/matter background will the documentation have to provide?

14. The User’s Workplace Environment
What user groups does the user belong to or have available?
Have you identified help forums, special interest groups, newsgroups, user groups, and Web resources available to your users?

15. The User’s Learning Preferences
Describe the user’s preferences for instructor-, manual-, or computer-based learning.

16. Usage Pattern
Describe the patterns users will exhibit:  regular, intermittent, and casual usage.

17. Document Goals
What goals in the area of meeting user needs do you envision for the documentation set you plan to write for the users you have described above?

18. Suggested Documentation Features
Describe the documentation features that your user analysis suggests.  Pay particular attention to areas of organization, emphases for motivation, separate sections, or other elements you want to provide to meet special needs and characteristics you discovered.