Stop Making Journey Maps and Personas, Complete a SAC (Scenario Alignment Canvas) Instead

The Scenario Alignment Canvas (SAC) framework, created by Jen Blatz, represents a groundbreaking advancement in UX research methodology, challenging traditional approaches and enabling teams to achieve alignment, clarity, and actionable insights in record time. This innovative tool redefines how teams approach user understanding and research planning, addressing the shortcomings of traditional personas and journey maps with a faster, more targeted, and collaborative alternative.

The SAC is part kickoff workshop, part assumption exposer, part data collector, and part research plan creator. This multi-purpose tool brings teams together to align around a user’s key goals, needs, and pain points, while identifying gaps in knowledge and setting the foundation for informed design decisions. 

Why the Scenario Alignment Canvas (SAC) Is a game-changer

• Challenges personas: Personas are often criticized for being too broad, time-intensive to create, and disconnected from immediate product decisions. The SAC shifts the focus to actionable user scenarios, helping teams concentrate on what truly matters.
• Fast and efficient: Teams can gain alignment and build a foundation for user-centered design in just one hour or two.
• Collaborative and surfaces assumptions: By involving cross-functional teams in the process, the SAC uncovers hidden assumptions and opportunities, fostering better communication and understanding focusing on the user.
• Research-driven next steps: The SAC not only surfaces knowledge gaps but also creates a plan for research activities, ensuring that the team builds on meaningful insights.

Key Project Outputs and Benefits:

• Aligned teams with a shared understanding of the user’s scenario or goal.
• A clear identification of gaps in knowledge and the need for further research.
• Streamlined processes to move from user alignment to design decisions.
• A research plan ready to address critical questions uncovered during the exercise.

Take aways and learnings

Learn how to use this quick, and innovative approach to align teams 

Get your team to quickly focus on the user’s key needs, goals and pain points

Align your team to share knowledge and build out a research plan all in about an hour or two.