Storytelling in User Experience

The first chapter of this book excerpt from "Storytelling for User Experience" in the author: Whitney Ouesenbery and Kevin Brooks, translated by the Graduate School of Design, Jiangnan University, Sun Qiyu. Why tell a story?

We all tell stories, which is one of the most natural ways to share information, and it's just as old as humans. This book is about using one of the skills you have in a whole new way: Apply storytelling to UX design.

As part of a user experience design, the story helps to lay the groundwork for your job in real situations. They allow you to showcase a design concept, a new product under development, a new idea or inspiration. But most importantly, they help you put the user at the center of the job. No matter how you start a project, in the end it will be used by people. Stories are a way to restore users during the design process, even if they are not always part of your team.

Stories can be applied throughout all user experience processes in a variety of ways:

They help us gather (and share) information about users, tasks, and goals. They figure out a user profile from the data. They inspire new design concepts and encourage collaboration and innovation. They are a way of sharing ideas and creating a common sense of historical mission. They help us understand the world by giving us insight into others. They can even convince others to believe the value of our contribution.

The story helps us to observe the user experience more clearly

Open University (OU) is the largest university in the United Kingdom. Its course is offered through distance learning, so the site is crucial.

One of our ongoing projects is the online syllabus - the academic curriculum offered by Open University. Originally, the outline should be presented as a typical catalog or database, starting with a list of faculties and then going into a specific course. This design assumes that most people will look for the details of a particular course.

But we are wrong. Instead, we find that students want to discuss their dreams. For example, one is more tired of their work and hope that the more challenging things. Another fond of party planning, but hope that their career can change from a hobby to make their own fiancee proud of full-time business. They told us that Open University helped to achieve success that exceeded their teacher's expectations. How they found themselves really loving to learn or discover their science talent through short courses. Few people's goals are straightforward, such as "getting a degree in psychology," but most people decide not only what they want to learn but where they learn to take themselves.

In a usability test, Priti, an elderly Pakistani woman, used to delay her education in order to raise a family. Now she wants to get her college diploma missed in her youth. She believes her first course should help improve her English reading ability and restore good study habits.

She worked hard with a friend to read and read each page carefully. They carefully discuss each decision, and every link they choose has good reason. But in the end they chose a high-level linguistics course, which was completely wrong for her. Clues about the grade and content of the course were so clear to us that they did not find it. Is it more appropriate to have a course called English Language and Learning?

Open University happens to have an outline for people like Priti. Open classes are a brief introduction to university study skills like re-learning how to write, and they should be quite appropriate. So instead of just choosing a bad start, she missed a start-up that really suits her.

This is not a single case of usability error that can be fixed in a simple way. The site just did not consider the issue from her perspective.

This and the more stories we've collected give the team confidence that we need to get involved in the class before motivating them to choose their first course. We started to talk about the story needs, about the courses you can learn at Open University.

More importantly, we must find ways to help them find ways to plan their own studies. The website provides a good guide to planning student time, but we found that the best reaction came when we were able to present a personal story on the site like this:

David Beckenham earned a Bachelor of Law (Honors) through Open University. Here's how he manages his time:

Communicating six years of unremitting efforts, for me a week of learning more than sixteen hours, I missed watching TV, but in the end it is absolutely worth it. I take a rest on Sunday, so I can relax and spend some time with my family, but I want to make sure I have the right amount of time every night and the timetable on Saturdays. Sometimes this means I have to work until 1am but I have always done it.

It makes sense that a story like this or a welcome video from a course instructor helps students understand that they really fit their needs.

What is the story?

Stories and storytelling are such a big concept and we'd better start by defining what kind of story is most helpful in user experience design.

In this book, we will focus on those stories whose goal is to describe or convey some aspect of the user experience. We'll cover scenarios, user stories, persona stories, storyboards, some (some) narrative use cases, and many other stories as part of different user experience methods.

As for the techniques we use, we include all the forms of storytelling.

One can be a written or verbal story. A story that can be told through photos, moving images or text. A story that can be told in the field or through audio or video.

A story can usually have a beginning, a middle, and an end - although not necessarily in that order - or it can simply provide a time and place.

Types of stories not covered include: bedtime stories, stories of adorable things you did in childhood, news stories, stories of cats being rescued from the trees, hairy dog ​​stories, ghost stories, novels, love stories, Confessions, how do I meet with your dad (unless we are designing a dating service), the end of the world, the beginning of the world, and the dream (not to be confused with the conceptual vision). We like these stories, but they are prepared for another book and have nothing to do with UX design.

Multiple story types in user experience design

Stories are a natural and flexible way of communicating. Common values ​​of the story include as a way to help people remember, a way to convince others and an effective way to entertain the public. This is true whether in user experience or elsewhere.

User experience includes a wide variety of disciplines, each of which has its own point of view. The story connects the many languages ​​you use in your work. By providing specific examples, the story can provide a common vocabulary for everyone.

A story can describe a situation or situation. The story can explain the problem. The story can serve as a starting point for a design discussion. The story can explore a design concept. The story can describe the impact of a new design. A story that describes a situation or situation

The story helps us better understand the world by describing the current situation. They not only describe a series of events, but they also provide an analysis of the causes and motives of these events.

Stories that accompany personas often describe something about their activities or experiences. For example, a story from a character on a cancer information site describes how a person with good Internet and search skills can help a cancer patient find relevant information. It describes how and why people use it, and most people do not use resources to find information about cancer.

Case: A story from a character: Barbara - a specific "searcher"

Barbara has always liked to read the information. As a writer and editor of a technology magazine, she continually explores new topics in the article. In addition to her network, she also has access to sources of information, legal and medical databases, and online archives. Recently, a friend was diagnosed with colon cancer. She helped him identify the best hospital to treat the cancer and read the latest treatments. She looked for some clinical trials that might help him and even examined some of the alternative therapies offered in Mexico and Switzerland. She is excited to find articles in her trusted journals, which give her the depth of knowledge she lacks on popular medical websites.

Explain the story of the problem

Stories can also be used to explain the pain points of the problem - through new product or design changes or fixes. They help a design or product team see the problem from the user's perspective.

Case: A story about pain points

Sister Sarah sighed. She and nuns Clare run youth organizations in their churches and today they are going to bring children to see the Philadelphia baseball game. They took everyone out of the parking lot and across the gate to their seat, no one left behind in a steady stream of people. When she realized she had dropped the money in the car, Sister Sarah was going to buy some drinks.

She stood at the entrance to the stadium, trying to recall where they parked. Often their minibuses are easy to spot, but today it seems that every church team in the area is here. She saw dozens of similar buses.

She closed her eyes and tried to recall how she came to the entrance. Are they turning right or left? On the left, she thought. She walked in one of the rows, but that was not her own car.

After wandering in the parking lot for thirty minutes, she will have to go back and tell nun, Clare, that she again forgot to keep track of where she was and where they parked. Children may know, she thought, she could take one out. But she can not call. Their only cellphone was left in the seat. She sighed.

This story describes a current issue. In this case, it's a bus lost in a huge parking lot and no one can find a good solution to the problem. Does this story let you start thinking innovative ways to solve the nuns Sarah's problem? There are many different potential solutions you may think of. This is the point of this story: in a form that helps divergent thinking.

A story that helps to start the discussion

You can also end up in the middle of the story in the form of a clear call for new ideas, end it with a better outcome, or identify a situation that might open the door to new products. The story to be used as a starting point for brainstorming requires not only reasonable detail, but also space for imagination. Their goal is to open up a design thinking, outline the area of ​​work, or trigger a discussion.

A story that triggers design discussions

When office manager Kathy was away, Joan was in charge of completing the payroll. Kathy left her with a note to remind her of the special bonus check to use this week.

Joan has not used the payroll process for a while, just remember that special checks are somewhat difficult to operate. The computer was covered with sticky notes on the wall, and she scanned them and relieved when she found out about a bonus.

Based on these short tips, she found the right interface. She made a mistake on her first attempt to print the check, and she had to undo all the actions. She struggled a few times hard and finally matched the note on the sticky note with the onscreen prompt. Finally, she successfully printed the check, and she also left a note on Kathy's desk reminding her to come back and check it.

How can you make it easier to create special checks and fill in accounting tasks? Has this story inspired the solution in your mind? Have you ever encountered a similar situation?

Explore the story of design philosophy

Stories can help you explain and explore a new idea or new concept and its impact on experience. Even before all the details are completed, they can be demonstrated through action to help shape a new design.

One way to create an emotional story is to use video, though it may be more difficult than comics, storyboards or oral narratives. Bruce Tognazzini, now a member of Nelson Norman Group, leads the future of a project vision calculation at Sun Microsystems. The result is the film "Spark," which envisions a day-to-day life of a knowledge worker 12 years later. Spark was founded in 1992 and set the scene in 2004. It features a workspace that consists of several gesture-controlled displays, much earlier than the film Minority Report or, more recently, innovations like the Microsoft Surface.

This story explores a completely new way of interacting instead of taking the time to describe the problem to be solved. The story of this story is quite simple, showing how a designer can do his job. It said, "What if all technology is currently implemented?" And told the story in that fashion. Spark's goal is to evoke new ideas rather than specifying a design with the exact details needed to develop a new product.

The following story also explores the unknown areas, in this case an interactive entertainment system subverts the rules of the usual shopping and reality TV shows.

Real interactive TV

Bob, Carol and their 17-year-old son Robert replaced their old wired system with a brand new Acme IPTV system. Not only do they have access to all the media in the old system, they also have special channels with interactive content.

Carol likes soap operas. Through interactive remote control, she turned her favorite show, "All My Restless Children," into a shopping catalog. If she likes the actress's earrings, she can order them. If she likes her blouse, she can also order it - on television. And the best part is that there is no advertisement.

Even Bob loves it, and during the show he can enter a soap opera car race via the remote control and screen interface. The first prize is the actress Corvus Convertible 1970.

Robert joins a different competition where the champion can have dinner with the actress. Not the same actress who plays the heroine but the dinner with her role!

But Carol loved them more than they did. Because interactive options are also available while watching on-demand. Carol ordered the latest episode one night and took part in the nanny contest on the show. First place will receive a free night care for the actor's service. Carol have a baby? No. What a pity she won! She will have to come up with other ways to take up the lead time.

Predict the story of the new design results

The predictive story describes in more detail what the world is going to be. They are similar to descriptive stories, except that they describe a non-existent user experience.

Software specifications often include predictive stories in the form of scenarios that include use cases or other narratives that describe the user's experience. These stories can be quite detailed, especially when they are used to clarify the requirements document.

A predictive story

John, 32, works for a medium-sized company. He recently decided to start his own consulting firm and is now a sole proprietor.

John wants to raise money from his former employer's annuity plan and open a new account at YourMutuals where he can re-deposit the annuity without having to consider tax issues, and then continue to do so on his own each year.

He first logs in to yourMutuals website with his username and password. He found the account opening link and filled out the forms he wanted to create in several forms. When he finished, he saw the new account along with his IRA account on the personal home page.

He opened an e-mail about the annuity plan. There is an option above to transfer his money directly to a new account. After clicking on the account, there was an option to "transfer money from another account". He entered the annuity plan name, bank name and his old membership account. When he finished, he received a message that he would be in control of the funds once the transaction was confirmed. He prints the message and exits

The next day, he received a mail from the annuity plan, confirming the transaction and giving him a callable phone number in case of misinformation. When he logged into YourMutuals, he saw the correct amount deposited on the new retirement account.

Now he can decide which mutual fund he wants to invest in.

This story can go on to describe more steps in the process or other features John might use. This is not a programming specification, but an interactive descriptive narrative.

More work? Not necessarily!

Maybe you do not think it will increase the workload by using stories. If you already have a good user experience process, you may have been collecting and using stories long ago. This book can help you do this more consciously and effectively.

If your process does not include too many user contacts, this can be a good time to start. You will find it enhances your work and gives you more confidence that you are creating what people will find truly useful and usable.

Either way, collecting stories and telling them when you design them will make your job richer and more innovative.

The American National Public Radio has a radio show, This American Life, that tells the story of people in their daily lives. Each episode selects a theme and looks at it from a different perspective, each time based on a real-life story. Ira Glass, the producer of the show, created an extremely compelling image by combining news and storytelling.

"You do not know what you're talking about, and you do not really understand that experience until you have heard the story, and you know nothing about it after you hear the story, or you know nothing about it because you're using it Defect way to process information. "- Ira Glass, American Life, 2007

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