using storytelling to improve usability and plain language
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Using Storytelling to Improve Usability and Plain Language
Whitney QuesenberyWQusability
Hi!
Me} User researcher} Theatre designer} Storytelling as a way to
understand user, culture, and context in UX design
How about you?
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Stories connect us
Stories make UX personal. They remind us that everything we make is made for a real person.
@ianeverdellCouriemail.com.au
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We all tell stories
You already know how to tell stories...
...but you may not know how to use stories effectively in your work.
Our brains are wired to tell stories
5 http://www.blindspottest.com/
Changing a story can change the way 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.
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Timothy Wilson, author of “Redirect”
Maria Popova, ‘Redirect’: A New Way to Think about Psychological Change. The Atlantic, September 9, 2011 www.theatlantic.com
Stories connect patients to science
7 The NCI Cancer Bulletin: http://www.cancer.gov/ncicancerbulletin/101910/page6
Stories connect information to personal journeys
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!
Stories help us see the individual
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How do we understand each person, not as part of a demographic, but as an individual with a history, goals, attitudes and relationships
How stories work
Storytelling is how we make sense of the world: re-imagining our everyday lives as an experience to be shared with others.
Julia’s Journal – JuliaAshtonSayers.blogspot.com
Stories are not a broadcast transmission
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Stories create connections
FIGURE 2-2
Storyteller Audience
Story
Stories create relationships
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FIGURE 4-1
UX person
Our colleagues(audience)
User
Story as collected
Story as re-told
We can meet people through their stories
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Stories create meaning
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
Aged 30-4545% married with children65% college educatedUse the web 3-5 times a week
Good personas...
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} Are based on research data
} Include information about demographics, top tasks, search skills, usability needs
} But most of all, tell a story that lets us recognize the persona as someone we can empathize with
Personas can also be quick sketches
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What can we learn from this short story?
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.
What makes a good story?
Stories have} Time and place} Characters} Events
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But they also have} Emotions} Imagery} Interaction} Motivation metaphor, movement, weather, atmosphere,
happiness, pride, frustration, boredom, joy, smell, anger, pleasure, history, context, time, goals....
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Stories start with listening
FIGURE 4-1
UX person
Our colleagues(audience)
User
Story as collected
Story as re-told
} Show that you are aware of the other person
} Be quiet. Give the person time to think as well as to talk.
} Use verbal and non-verbal gestures to “take your turn” in the conversation without redirecting it.
} Show warmth and caring about what you are hearing.
} Reflect back what you hear, when appropriate, by responding to what you heard or restating
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Listen (and watch) for juicy fragments
Look 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.
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Ask the questions that encourage stories
“When was the last time you [did that thing]?”
“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]?”
+“Tell me about that.”
(and really listen)
+
FIGURE 4-1
UX person
Our colleagues(audience)
User
Story as collected
Story as re-told
FIGURE 5-2
Storytelling in our work
A good story will evoke emotion. We humans remember emotions best.
@mike_me_upKindersandi.moonfruit.com
Specify
Understand
Design
Evaluate Success?
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Stories are embedded in our work
Mee#ng the users.
FIGURE 5-2
Illustra#ng user needs and points of pain
FIGURE 5-3
Clusters of stories
UX team
Brainstorming new success stories and exploring ideas
FIGURE 5-4
Stories
UX team
Designidea
Evalua#ng the work in progress
Usability participantUX person
And then I...Story as test scenario
FIGURE 5-5
Human-centred design processes for interactive systems ISO 9241-210. (formerly ISO 13407)
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We just don’t call them stories
FIGURE 5-2
FIGURE 5-3
Clusters of stories
UX team
User researchEthnographyContextual inquirySite visits
PersonasAffinity analysis
Card sorting
ScenariosStoryboardsWireframesPrototypes
Usability TestingWalk-throughsAnalytics
Usability participantUX person
And then I...Story as test scenario
FIGURE 5-5
FIGURE 5-4
Stories
UX team
Designidea
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Stories can spark innovationThey can start from...
} Stories you hear during from (or about) users
} 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
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Unexpected stories} Character
Establish perspective or relationship
} Context Set up the problem
} Imagery Suggest emotions or experience
}
Gina gave us the first tidbit. 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…”
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FIGURE 5-2
Juicy fragments can grow into a story
“When I’m waiting for a bus, I wish I had a way to know when it will arrive.”
“If I’m running late, I can drive
if I’m going to miss the train.”
“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.”
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Stories explore situations and context} Context
Set up the problem
} Character The persona creates the perspective andrelationship
} Imagery Suggests theemotionalconnections
There is nothing more frustrating than waiting for the bus. On a suburban road. In the snow.
Sandra didn’t like snow much anyway, but she liked standing at her bus stop even less, with snow oozing into her boots and cars splashing ice at her.
Had she missed it? Was it right around the corner? Was it even running with all this snow?
Was anything going to get her to work on time today?
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Stories explore situations and context (2)} Context
Different setting
} Character Different person and situation
} Same basic problem
Much as Ian loved staying out with his friends until the pubs closed, he hated getting back home late at night.
Was the train still running, or did he have to trudge over to the stop for the night bus -- 5 blocks that seemed much longer after a few beers.
And there was the tedium of watching the bus wind through the streets.
Stories for brainstorming
} Start from a juicy fragment, analysis data, or a usability problem
} Construct a story that sets up the context...
but does not provide a solution.
} Be sure you ground the story with a character (or persona), a context (place, time, situation), a motivation, and a problem.
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Brainstorming from points of pain to a new story
Signs on the platform with when the train will arrive.
App that taps into transit information for bus or train locations.
Text message with the time the next bus will arrive.
Bus checks off its arrival on the schedule.
Website with information
A new ending to Sandra’s StoryAfter she’d waited for a few minutes, Sandra brushed enough snow off the sign to be able to read the stop number.
She had the RideFind number in her phone’s contact list, so all she had to do was enter the number of the bus stop into a text message.
A couple of seconds later, the reply came back. The bus was 10 minutes away, running late. She’d get to work this morning.
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} Sets up a possible solution
Mary and Leonard Trujillo – The Mudhead Gallery
Crafting a story
Stories help us empathize and experience another person’s condition. Stories appeal to our emotions and drive us to action.
@balchenn
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Let’s create a story
} Start from something you have experienced in your work.
} Think of a specific about the personand a specific event
} Maybe a story about...
} Something you learned about their perspectives or goals
} A need they didn’t know they had
} A delightful or painful experience
} What is important about this story? What do you want to share?
} Write a story you can tell in one minute
Feedback} How was that?
} Did anyone have trouble finding a story to tell?
} What was it like to } Just listen to someone else’s story?} Be listened to?
} How did it feel to get an appreciation instead of a criticism?
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Each voice expresses a relationship
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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 communicate} Research authority} A neutral picture } A realist tale
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2nd person creates a conversation
} What are the relationships here?} Is the researcher in the story?} Is it “you” and “me” or “we”} Can creating a sense of identify
motivate action?38 Courtesy Ian Roddis, OU and Caroline Jarrett
1st person invites identification
39 Just LIke Me - Determining Eligibility Online with Personalized Narratives - Thea van der Geest and Lex van Velsen, UPA 2010
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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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Transforming a story to a test task} Use stories to decide on tasks that
let the participant “finish the story”
Another person just got promoted ahead of you. You know you are good at your job but notice that everyone else has a degree in business. Maybe it’s time to go back to school.
Does the local college have a program you can manage with your work schedule?
} MotivationEnough of a story to provide motivation
} Goal The task can be veryprecise, or allow the participant more freedom
Stories can make your work richer and more persuasive
Stories take our audience on a journey and enable leaps of faith.
@MarkErhardt
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Stories use pull, not push, to engage (and persuade)
They help you think about something (new)…
In a realistic situation
With a compelling character and perspective
And imagine how it will solve a problem
Questions?
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