Extending the product specification with emotional aspects: Introducing user experience stories

Emotional aspects of products play a vital role for the purchasing decision but are often neglected in conventional product development processes. In the task clarification design phase, in particular, many challenges need to be faced: task clarification is an interdisciplinary and user-centered process, where a communication platform for the non-tangible, affective characteristics is essential. Additionally, the product specification as output of this phase does not capture important aspects for User Experience (UX): contextual and temporal aspects, user motives and goals and interrelations among product attributes or other system components affecting the holistic experience. UX stories are introduced as a tool to face these challenges and overcome the weaknesses of existing approaches. A definition of UX stories, descriptions of the elements composing them as well as their possible integration in the engineering design process are proposed. The paper highlights how the use of UX stories can enrich product specification regarding UX and reinforce creating consistent product experiences that go beyond the product itself.