1. It’s a Story–Rich World:Storytelling for UX Whitney Quesenbery UPA NYC 14 September
2. Hi! User researcher Theatre designer Storytelling as a way to understand user, culture, and context in UX design Researcher in new UI technologies Performance storyteller Storytelling as a pivotal part of the creation, performance, and design process.
3. We all tell stories You already know what a story is… ..but you may not know how to use stories effectively in your work.
4. Storytelling in UX Stories make UX personal. They remind us that everything we make is made for a real person. @ianeverdell
5. Storytelling is already part of UX Understand If you look at a generic design process… Success? Specify Evaluate Design
6. Stories are embedded in the UX cycle Collecting stories: hearing what other people have to say Understand Analysis: finding patterns in shared stories Success? Specify Evaluate Evaluation:testing designs to see if they tell the story well Design: creating ideas that embody key stories Design
7. Storytelling is already part of UX…We just don’t call them stories Userresearch Analysis Field studies Card sorting Site visits Cluster sorting Content analysis Evaluation Design Usability Testing Scenarios Wireframes Prototype walk-through Log Analysis
8. Stories add depth to UX work If you craft and use stories in a conscious way You’ll add a richer understanding of users as an input to your design process You’ll find new design ideas more easily You can be more persuasive in communicating those new, innovative, usable designs You can use stories to enhance the usability work you are already doing. You can use stories to bring people into the center of the process.
9. We all tell stories Storytelling is how we make sense of the world: re-imagining our everyday lives as an experience to be shared with others. @otrops
10. Listening Exercise Work in pairs - with someone you don’t know 1 minutes to speak - then switch Speaker’s job - speak about something relatively comfortable Listener’s job - just listen. Don’t have to talk, interrupt or fill silences. Talk aboutsomething you madethat you are proud of.
11. Standard “biz talk” doesn’t work Most of the time we try to construct a logical argument, as though just putting the facts in front of someone is the way to convince them. From Stephen Denning’s work on storytelling and leadership: www.stevedenning.com
12. Claude Shannon was wrong* Stories do not work like a broadcast transmission. Stories are created by everyone who hears them. * At least about stories.
13. A story is shared by everyone who hears it First the storyteller shapes the story As they listen, the audience members form an image of the story in their own minds.
14. A story is shared by everyone who hears it The storyteller and the audience each affects the other and shapes the story they create. The most important relationship is between the audience and the story. The audience is a part of the story each time it is told.
15. A story is shared by everyone who hears it…but heard by each person in their own way The storyteller and the audience all shape the story In the end, each person in the audience ‘owns’ the story, too.
16. Stories use pull, not push, to persuade They let your audience think about something (new)… In a realistic situation With a compelling character and perspective And imagine how it will solve a problem
18. Stories close a gap When you retell a story, you make a connection between your colleagues and the person you heard the story from.
19. Any time you are listening,turn on your juicy story filter You are looking for stories that…. You hear from more than one source. Have a lot of action detail. Have details that illuminate user data Surprise or contradict common beliefs And are clear, simple, and compelling.
20. Ask the questions that encourage stories “Have you ever [done something]?” “How often do you [do that thing]?” “What makes you decide to [do that thing]?” “Where do you [do that thing]?” + “When was the last time you [did that thing]?” + “Tell me about that.” (and really listen)
21. Juicy fragments can grow into a story “I love seeing lots of people on the metro platform. It usually means a train will arrive soon.” “When I’m waiting for a bus, I wish I had a way to know when it will arrive.” “When the bus stop isn’t well marked, I always worry whether I’m in the right place.” “If I’m running late, I can drive if I’m going to miss the train.”
22. Crafting (and using) stories Stories help us empathize and experience another person’s condition. Stories appeal to our emotions and drive us to action. @balchenn
23. Stories let build empathy for personas Aged 30-45Well educated45% married with children50% use the web 3-5 times a week65% use search engines Elizabeth, 32 years old Married to Joe, has a 5-year old son, Justin Attended State College, and manages her class alumni site Uses Google as her home page, and reads CNN online Used the web to find the name of a local official
24. Stories explain unexpected user data Use data to setup the storyMerge demographicand other statisticswith a humansitutation We were ready to be disappointed. Nurses were more interested in people than technology. They used the Web, of course, but didn’t see social media as work. Only a few of them had phones that did more than make phone calls. Some didn’t even have Web access except at home. So we were taken by surprise when one nurse after another got enthusiastic about some concept sketches for mobile health sites.
25. Stories explore situations and ideas Character The persona creates the perspective andrelationship Imagery Suggests theemotionalconnections Context Set up the problem Gina gave us the first clue. She was a nurse manager for the county health system. “I’m on the move all day and I have a huge case load. Patients are always throwing new questions at me. Yesterday, I really struggled to sort out a problem one patient was having with side effects. I speak a little Spanish, but just couldn’t remember the correct medical term to explain a new adjuvant the doctor wanted to try. It was so frustrating.” She pointed at the sketch. “I don’t have a phone that will do all that - yet, but if it’s really that simple…”
26. Use stories to trigger brainstorming Drug dictionary formatted for a small screen. Multi-lingual dictionary of medical terms Checklists of questions patients should ask their doctor. Chat with a specialist
27. Stories give us a new perspective Every interaction is a story, with the user as the "star." This appeals to our human need to be at the center of every experience. @dgelman
28. Stories can be test scenarios They create a realistic context because they are based on real stories. They give you a range of stories and perspectives to draw on.
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31. Stories can spark innovation Start with… Stories you hear during customer conversations Explore new perspectives on a problem or goal Personas Show their behavior in new situations Data Explore the story behind the data Juicy fragments Explain the unexpected What’s the story outside the box
32. A story is successful when it gets repeated Think carefully about what stories you want retold. Look for stories that are Based on real data The stories you want told Generate insights and empathy
33. Thank you Storytelling for User Experience:Crafting stories for better design Whitney Quesenbery & Kevin Brookswhitneyq@wqusability.combrooks@media.mit.edu Blog and book sitewww.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/storytelling/ Ilustrations by Calvin C. Chan available at www.flickr.com/photos/rosenfeldmedia/
Notes de l'éditeur
Stories are part of how we communicate. Our brain may be hard-wired for stories: Blind spot – reallyl large – in center of vision. Brain is really constructing a story all the time. It’s the same as the way we see action in a cartoon. ButIf not neuroscience, storytelling in every culture around the world.So I don’t really need to tell you what a story is.
Now, something else you know..And how they mesh
And, a usability testing scenario is nothing but a story that we ask participants to complete.Almost any story can be transformed into a task for a usability test by asking someone to step into that narrative and finish it.BUT – NOT “STORY CENTERED DESIGN”The point is that stories are part of UX, not that they have to be the center of it.
WQBy putting stories into this cycle, we’ve done something important… we’ve brought the people back into the process – perhaps explaining why it’s a “human” centered process.
KBBefore we dive into UX, I’d like to take a short diversion into a little bit about what we mean by stories. Mention stories are good stuffAnyone here think that you aren’t a very good storyteller?
Here’s how we mostly try to communicate in business:Data. Powerpoint. Charts, graphs and tables.Are you really swayed by statistics? Or are they just part of the picture. Problem with own reference: Lever voting systemsThe problem isn’t “death by powerpoint” it’s that we’re trying to TELL people things, instead of getting them on board.
Metaphor of story as a conduit through which we push information is wrong (George Lakoff)Even broadcast isn’t really what we thinkBroadcast tower storySo, if this picture is wrong.. let’s think about what the right one is.It’s STORIES SHARED
WQ
USE STORIES TO CREATE THE SITUATION YOU WANT THEM TO REMEMBERit might be a story about something that needs to change – a point of painOR, how things COULD BEIf you get them to imagine the world, it’s harder not to accept it.
KBDescribe the story triangle.
The experience of atually talking to users is really rich – but that richness can be lost in reports. However you try to bring that experience back to your team, stories are an important part of it. VIRAL STORIESWhen it’s your story – you can retell it.
Then, you add one more thing, which is to simply use 4 magic words, and invite them to tell you the story. And, you do the most important thing of all – you give them your full attention and wait. Don’t fiddle with your notes, or start to pack up your papers. You have to invite people to tell you their story, especially if you have been delving into details or had a list of things you had to get through.
TRANSIT STORIESThis might grow into a story about new servicesIN FACT THIS IS ALREADY HAPPENINGWait time signs, text message or IVR servicesEven available now for other companies to make mobile apps.This is not just application of technology – but convergence of individual needs, social issues and technology to solve problems.
15-20 minutesOK – so how do you get started – LOOK AT A FEW STORIES
This is the beginning of a story…Sets up the situation by placing it in the demographicsAlso explains why we’re going to say something unexpected.
Research report on mobile applications.Picks up from the last story. Show the research context as well: I’m about to say something new .. this was an example.Then, we could talk about how many other people said similar things, what we think it means,which they liked best, etc. The last paragraph is the point: If we can keep it simple enough, they might use it.We had another story from the same research – another nurse was trying to decide what phone to buy, wanted to make sure it ran a specific application she’d found – one she found valuable. Turned the tables on us to ask our advice “because we must know about this stuff”Not contradiction: still not early adopters or comfortable, but knows a good tools when they see one
This leads to obvious brainstorming.Reaction to the stories was to start thinking of ideasAND Reconsidering ideas in light of what we’d learnedIsn’t that what we want?Once that discussion starts, stories can shift…EXPLORING AN IDEA IN CONTEXT…If you think back to the transit ideas. One of them was to put informaiton on the web – it’s a great idea, but didn’t meet the story about Sandra out in the snow.Here’s one that does
At the OU, we know that a lot of people return to education to qualify for a better job. So, we can take their stories about how they made decisions about what courses to takeand turn them into a test scenario
We might customize this story to the participant’s situation, or elaborate it a bit more…but the point is that you can reuse the basic stories as test tasks. To take this further – you can customize the task to the person – for example, pick a subject that they are interested in. make the need more or less urgent ask if the participant would really do this (to revalidate the stories)
A story is a way of circulating a meme.Your goal is to have it repeated, and retold around the company.So, you have to be careful about the stories you repeatYou have to be able to back them upYou have to know what stories you want to have toldStory about eyetracking hopping over the tile.