Mapping User Needs to Product Features: A Human-Centered Design Perspective

In our roles as Product Owners, Product Managers, Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches and Practitioners, building bridges between business and technology is integral to the work we do.

How might we upskill ourselves so that we can continue to remain relevant this bridge building work between business and technology, between our customers and our development teams?

One impactful way to upskill is to infuse human-centered design principles and practices into our ways of working.

Want to learn how? Join us as our guest speaker, Melissa Zarou, shows us how to bridge the gap between user insights and product development with Customer Journey Mapping to enhance your User Story Mapping process.

In this insightful and interactive session, Melissa will share best practices for understanding user emotions, pain points, and interactions, ensuring your user stories are built on genuine needs and insights.

Key Takeaways for Attendees:

• Understand the distinct roles of Customer Journey Mapping and User Story Mapping in product development and how they complement each other.
• Learn how to use human-centered tools like Customer Journey Mapping to gain deeper insights into user experiences and needs.
• See how to build user stories from real pain points, ensuring features address needs and maximize impact.
• Gain hands-on experience using Mural to build empathy and turn insights into actionable product features.

About Melissa Zarou
Melissa Zarou is a human-centered designer and instructor based in Silver Spring, MD. With over a decade of experience, she has worked on design and product teams across various sectors, including healthcare and fintech. She has also supported enterprise-wide innovation programs globally for governments, non-profits, and corporations, teaching human-centered methods that help teams untangle complex problems and build impactful, user-centered solutions. Melissa is a LUMA Institute certified instructor. When she’s not teaching, you’ll find her exploring new recipes or hiking with her husband and their Alaskan Malamute.