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scenario

a design envisionment technique whereby a set of representative target users are identified and an outline is created of their lives, their goals, their interests, their schedules, and their interaction with the system being designed. While these descriptions of different target populations may be driven by survey and interview data, for instance, it is primarily a conceptual, introspective technique. Scenarios are often created quite early in a design cycle to help identify requirements and, like task analysis, to identify necessary features that might otherwise have been overlooked. Scenarios make sure that you have a specific idea of who the product is targeted at and that you have considered the different types of users and how their needs and goals may be different.