Motivation
Why people care.
Before we look at any product, we need to look at the life it might fit into. This part is about the person: what they are trying to achieve, what they are trying to protect, and the situation that makes any of it matter.
Why people do anything, including buy
Why does anyone buy anything, and why does the answer start long before they ever meet us?
By the time a customer contacts you, most of the important things have already happened. Years of a problem quietly recurring. A failed attempt at fixing it. An embarrassing moment. A friend's recommendation. A deadline from someone with authority.
Your website did not create their interest. It caught them at the end of a long chain of events, most of which you will never see.
Think about the last real change you made. Two things were probably happening at once. Something about your current situation had started to bother you. And something about a different future had started to look good.
The push is pressure to move away from something about where you are now. The pull is attraction toward something about where you could be. Push and pull do not compete. They point the same direction.
People do not change because of our marketing. They change because something inside them pushes them away from where they are and pulls them toward where they would rather be.
What people are trying to achieve and protect
What is a person actually working on, and how do their concerns fit together?
People are always doing two things at once: pursuing something better, and protecting something they already have.
Two questions open up any stated goal. What would that make possible? moves up. What would that look like on an ordinary Monday? moves down. You need both.
Read the situation that makes the want make sense
Why does the same fact about the world matter enormously to one person and not at all to another?
A condition is a fact about the world. It becomes demand only when it connects to a specific person's concerns in a way they notice.
When you describe someone's situation, cover:
- The person — who they are, and what role they are in.
- Their concerns — what they are pursuing and protecting.
- The stakes — what is gained if it goes well, lost if it does not.
- The conditions — what is true around them.
- Other people — who is involved, affected, or watching.
- Available actions — what they could actually do.
- Constraints — what limits them.