Storytelling your way to a better user experience - UPA Boston

Storytelling YourWay to a BetterUser Experience
Whitney Quesenbery
Kevin Brooks
UPA Boston
June 2010

Introductions
Researcher in new UI technologies
Performance storyteller
Storytelling as a pivotal part of the creation, performance, and design process.
User researcher
Theatre designer
Storytelling as a way to understand user, culture, and context in UX design

Storytelling is already part of UX
Understand
Success?
Specify
Evaluate
Design

Success?
Storytelling is already part of UX
Understand
Specify
Evaluate
Design

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

Storytelling is already part of UX…We just don’t call them stories
You can use stories to enhance the usability work you are already doing.and
You can use stories to help you start bringing people into the center of the process.

We all tell stories

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 aboutthe time on your way here thatyou were the most bored.

“Story” is not just a fancy word for broadcasting information
Stories start with listening.

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.

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.

A story is shared by everyone who hears it…but heard by each person in their own way

The relationships around a story are called the Story Triangle

Relationships shift as you movefrom story listener to story teller

We’re going to talk about
Collecting stories
Personas and their stories
Stories for testing

Collecting stories

While 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.

Structure the discussion to 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.”

Look for patterns in the stories,just like any other user research data

These story fragments might grow into a story
“When I’m waiting for a bus, I wish I had a way to know when it will arrive.”
“I love seeing lots of people on the metro platform. It usually means a train will arrive soon.”
“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.”

Personas stories

Data  Persona
Aged 30-45Well educated45% married with childrenOver half 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

Stories for your personas let you explore situations and ideas
The persona as a character provides perspective
The relationships create the context
The imagery suggests emotional connections
The language can suggest the voice of the persona

There is nothing more frustrating than waiting for the bus in the snow when you’re already running late for work.
Sandra didn’t like snow much anyway, but she liked standing at her bus stop even less.
Had she missed it? Was it even running with all this snow?
She ran over her options in her mind. None of them were going to get her to work on time.

What design ideas does the story suggest?
Put bus schedules on the web with real-time updates
Send a text message and get a message back with the ETA for the next bus
Signs at the bus stop saying how long until the next one
Service alerts with emails about problems
And stories help you explore ideas in context!

Evaluating with stories

Stories can be used to create scenarios for usability testing
They create a realistic context because they are based on real stories.
They give you a range of stories and perspectives to draw on.

You commute to work on a suburban bus line. You have a meeting in the morning, and don’t want to be late.
But, as you eat breakfast you see that snow is piling up on the road.
Find out if your bus is running on time this morning.
Transforming a story to a test task
Turn the story to set up the situtation, then let the participant “finish the story” as the test task.

Stories can make your usability work more effective

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 available under Creative Commons www.flickr.com/photos/rosenfeldmedia/

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Storytelling your way to a better user experience - UPA Boston

by Whitney Quesenbery and Kevin Brooks

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