the power of stories: creating empathy and connection

The Power of StoryDesigning with empathy and connection

Whitney QuesenberyWQusability and Center for Civic Design

Twitter @whitneyq

Hi!

User research, usability, accessibility Former theatre designer Storytelling as a way to understand users,

culture, and context in UX design Passionate about civic design New book on accessible UX

How about you?

Kevin Brooks

Couriemail.com.au

Stories connect us

Personas & stories communicate patterns

Stories... Store and transmit

knowledge Communicate culture Explore new ideas

They help us… Share information in

memorable form Understand emotion and

desires

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Too often, "data" looks like this...

And even when it looks like this...

Or this, it still needs a storyteller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo

Stories let us fill in the gaps

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/blindspot1.html

Stories create relationships

This is the key relationship

A story is shared by everyone who hears it

Stories are building blocks

Kindersandi.moonfruit.com

Explain patterns of use

Communicate context (and emotion)

Ten minutes is not enough. That's Tanner’s opinion about the time limits on using the computer at school.

Last Friday, he started working on a geography assignment and look up some information about the animals in Africa. He had just gotten started when his turn on the computer was up. He’d like to work on it over the weekend, but can’t access the school library. He prints out a few things, and figures he will retype what he’s done when he gets home.

What a bore.

Show action over time

Narrative weaves the user journey into the structure of a site.

Fill in details and scenarios

Rachel, Enthusiastic dreamer28, finished one year at uni, works in an office Lives in North London with a partner Hasn’t settled down to a plan for her lifeInterested in Social Sciences

FIRST CONTACT WITH THE OU: OU ON TVInsomnia led Rachel to the OU, watching programs on the telly. She starts to enjoy the programmes and thinks about doing something to improve her career. It takes her a long time to act on this idea, but she visits an Open Day.

She spends ages thinking about it, sometimes browsing the web site, but also reading the brochures she has taken from the Open Day.

On her third trip to an Open Day, she finally registers for an Openings course that’s about to begin.

Stories can explore unexpected data

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…”

A lens into the data

What is the impact of search on the user experience?

Search and traffic analysisThe top searches are persistent (and have continued over time

With some seasonal variations

The search logs shows a classic “long tail”eggsonionscabbagevinegarpotatosalmon

We had personas

George Martin Margaret

Jason Abila Rachel

We* can use the personas as a lens into the data

* by “we” I mean Viki Stirling and Sarah Allen the maestros of the analytics who did the work

Consolidating knowledgeJulia’s Journal – JuliaAshtonSayers.blogspot.com

Personas explore tensions in the design space

Quantitative and qualitative data work together

DemographicsJourneyMarket segmentsTask analysisSkillsUsability needsOther sites used

Snapshots reinforce the relationships

How will you tell the story?

Mary and Leonard Trujillo – The Mudhead Gallery

Stories are efficient

Tanner was deep into a Skatepunkz game—all the way up to level 12—when he got a buddy message from his friend, Steve, with a question about his homework.

He looked up with a start. Almost bedtime and his homework was still not done. Mom or Dad would be in any minute.

Each voice is a perspective

Third Person Second Person First Person

Story is told about someone, looking at them from the outside

Story is a conversation between the storyteller and another person

Story is told from the point of view of the main character

For example:A UX person telling stories about how several different people responded to a prototype.

Persona stories, especially if there is more than one

For example: Feedback to a participant or other stakeholder,

“Interviewing a persona”

Talking directly to users of a product

For example: A UX person telling the story of their own reactions.

Retelling a story from the point of view of the original experience.

Maintains a distance between “us” and “them”

Creates a direct connection and invites the other person to respond.

Invites the audience to look at the story through the eyes of

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3rd person allows you to explain and interpret

Whose words and thoughts are these? Are these things that Mary would

say or are they our interpretation of all the data and stories that went into the Mary persona?

How can we show when we are using her own words?

Does this story invoke research authority- a “realist tale”?

Mary works as a nurse in a hectic women’s health center for a low-income neighborhood. …Her questions about cancer mostly come from her patients, or from wanting to be sure that she catches any early signs.…She has learned conversational Spanish, so she can talk to her patients for whom this is a first language. …When she looks things up on the Web, she tends to go back to familiar sites

John van Mannen – Tales from the Field

2nd person creates conversation

How can you show the conversation?Interviews maintain a separationConversations can also happen between two personas

Persona by Caroline Jarrett for the Open University

1st person invites identity

You represent the persona and tell the story from their point of view. Lets you “get into the head” of the story (an “impressionist tale”)

OR

First person can tell your story of your experience with the person (a “confessional tale”)

Stories are not a detailed task analysis

Focus on the story Establish the scene with imagery What’s the time-frame? What’s the emotional context

Think about the persona’s perspective How do they see the events or interaction? What words do they use? Style of language? What are the boundaries of the story from their point of

view? (Hint: it might not be your product!)

Don’t use the story to describe the user

Personas and their stories give us...A richer understanding of context Innovation from real needsMore persuasive ideasPeople in the center of the process

Coral reef in Ras Muhamad Nature Park

Screen: Globalgiving.comFor more::http://succeedwithsuccessstories.com/dr-spocks-guide-to-improving-your-charitable-appeals/

Stories create empathy

Stories change how we think

Our experience of the world is shaped by our interpretations of it, the stories we tell ourselves.... so the key to personal transformation is story transformation.- Timothy Wilson, RedirectScreen from Tripit

Personas (and stories) travel thru the UX journey

Specify

Understand

Design

Evaluate

Gather information - both qualitative and quantitative

Reflect the breadth and depth of the audience

Explore current problems and new design ideas

Stories can be a vehicle for evaluation, or a check on usability test participants

A story is successful when it gets repeated

Based on real data

The stories you want told

Generate insights and empathy

& that lead to action!

Storytelling for User Experiencewith Kevin BrooksGlobal UXwith Daniel SzucA Web for Everyonewith Sarah Horton

http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/a-web-for-everyone/

Whitney Quesenberywhitneyq@wqusability.comwww.wqusability.com@whitneyq

Center for Civic Designwhitneyq@centerforcivicdesigncenterforcivicdesign.org@ChadButterfly