Writing a user need

Before writing new content or making significant changes to existing content, identify the specific user need (or needs, because there may be more than 1). If you (or subject matter expert or stakeholder) cannot articulate a valid user need, the content does not need to exist, or it might take some work to understand the user need.

A user need is what our users (students) need from us (student services in finance, student records, and registration). The following framework is a common way to write a user need:

As a [who is the user?] I need to [what do they want to do?] so that [why do they want to do this?].

To discover a user need, understand who your specific user is, what they’re trying to do, how they currently do it, what pain points they may experience, and what they need from you in order to get their task done. Be specific about who your user is.

Example: As a stressed out undergrad, I need to find out if I can get a refund so that I can drop my class with confidence.

Acceptance criteria

Acceptance criteria can help define a user need, as well as help determine the best way to meet the user need. It may not always be via the One Stop website, which is what makes acceptance criteria so valuable.

Acceptance criteria defines when the content has met the user need based on user expectations. In other words, what must be done in order for the user to feel like they got what they needed? Acceptance criteria helps us develop good content and holds us accountable to the user need.

Here’s an example:

User need: As a stressed out undergrad, I need to find out if I can get a refund so that I can drop my class with confidence.

Acceptance criteria:

The student can find refund information that applies to them
The student understands whether they are eligible for a refund
The student feels confident they found the right refund deadline
The student knows how to drop a class
The student knows how to get help

Resources

Learning about users and their needs, Gov.UK

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