As design asks for a larger seat at the table and works to foster a culture of customer-centered design-thinking, we must better communicate our process and value to others who don't understand this mysterious power of UX. Storytelling is a great way to do that.
Despite the fact that we talk a lot about story in UX, we have trouble putting it into practice, especially our own stories.
This talk recasts our design process as story, making it more impactful and relatable to others. We discuss the uses of story in UX, provide a visual map of the UX story framework (UXStoryWheel), and demonstrate a few simple story patterns.
Tell Me What You Do: How Storytelling Makes You a Better Designer
1. TELL ME WHAT YOU DO
How Storytelling Makes You
a Better Designer
MARY WHARMBY
UX Design Director, Spring Studio
@marywharmby | #uxstorywheel
Presented to UXPA 2015
San Diego, CA
7. RULE OF THE ROAD #1
People will hear a story whether
you tell it or not. Tell the story
you want people to hear
#uxstorywheel
8.
9.
10. 2. Trigger/
Call to
Action
THE HERO’S
JOURNEY 3. Gaining
Awareness
1. Before
State
6. Return
Changed
5. Ultimate
Test
4. Tests &
Failures
Abyss
Death & Rebirth
11.
12. RULE OF THE ROAD #2
Building on Campbell’s Hero’s
Journey makes our UX stories more
impactful and relatable to others.
#uxstorywheel
40. PHASEAUDIENCEGOAL
Your Team
Other Teams
Stakeholders
Detective Story
Understand
the Problem
Empathize with User
Give Meaning to Info
Set Common Vision
Buddy Story
Build a
Solution
Your Team
Other Teams
Stakeholders
Lessons
1 2 3
Measure
Results
Your Team
Stakeholders
Other Teams
Foster Teamwork
Motivate
Remember Vision
Understand
Reflect
Set New Vision
41. The Case of the User and the ATM
Detective Story Pattern
53. Detective Story
Understand
the Problem
Buddy Story
Build a
Solution
Your Team
Other Teams
Stakeholders
Lessons
1 2 3
Measure
Results
Your Team
Stakeholders
Other Teams
Empathize with User
Give Meaning to Info
Set Common Vision
Foster Teamwork
Motivate
Remember Vision
Understand
Reflect
Set New Vision
Your Team
Other Teams
Stakeholders
PHASEAUDIENCEGOAL
66. Detective Story
Understand
the Problem
Buddy Story
Build a
Solution
Your Team
Other Teams
Stakeholders
Lessons Story
1 2 3
Measure
Results
Your Team
Stakeholders
Other Teams
Empathize with User
Give Meaning to Info
Set Common Vision
Foster Teamwork
Motivate
Remember Vision
Understand
Reflect
Set New Vision
Your Team
Other Teams
Stakeholders
PHASEAUDIENCEGOAL
70. UX
Story
Wheel
Project World
User World
Build a
Solution
Tell the
user a
new story
Build a new
experience
2
Lessons Story Act II - Design Intervention
Engineering Team
Founders
Design
Intervention
meUX
81. 150 SPEAR ST, STE. 1500 SF, CA 94105
415.339.1979 | www.springstudio.com | @SpringUX
THANK YOU
MARY WHARMBY | @marywharmby
82. Make your own
UX Story Wheel at home
with our EZ printable template!
Follow:
@marywharmby or #uxstorywheel
for details.
COMING SOON
83. 1. People will hear a story whether you tell it or not. Tell the story you
want people to hear.
2. Building on Campbell’s Hero’s Journey makes our UX stories more
impactful and relatable to others.
3. The UXer’s Journey means simultaneously keeping a foot in both the
user story AND the project story.
4. Your design PROCESS is your UX Journey PLOT.
5. Ground each artifact story in BOTH the user and project stories.
6. Baby, don’t fear the pivots… Setbacks and false leads make for
moments of truth and triumph. Acknowledge them.
#uxstorywheel
RULES OF THE ROAD
84. 7. Keep it human (centered). The more personal a story, the more
universally relatable.
8. Everyone is on a hero’s journey. Recognize the other characters in
your stories.
9. Innovation is a risky adventure. The outcome is unknown.
Acknowledge risk in your stories.
10. Take the entire UX Story Wheel into account when forming lessons.
11. Establish the user as a key character early. It only gets harder.
12. Don’t forget your own story. Tell people what YOUR UXer’s Journey
looks like.
#uxstorywheel
RULES OF THE ROAD
85. INSPIRATION & REFERENCES
Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint, Nancy Kress, 2005, Writer’s Digest Books
Customer Journey Mapping, 2012, Chris Risdon & Todd Wilkens (for their brilliant Indiana Jones
analogy)
Five Indispensable Skills for UX Mastery, Jared Spool, 2010, User Interface Engineering
Plot & Structure, James Scott Bell, 2004, Writer’s Digest Books
The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers, 1988, Doubleday
Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences, Nancy Duarte, 2010, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.
Story, Robert McKee, 1997, Harper Collins
Storytelling for User Experience, Whitney Quesenbery & Kevin Brooks, 2010, Rosenfeld Media
UX Portfolios: How to tell your story, Patrick Neeman & Troy Parke, 2010, Slideshare
Special thanks to my very patient colleagues at Spring Studio and Sketchnote
Mornings for their helpful feedback. This talk was informed and influenced by the work
of many others, most notably:
86. Story Circle: https://flic.kr/p/aW3w1g
Bar: https://flic.kr/p/5jUQtq
Office: https://flic.kr/p/5aPvcH
Cave Painting: https://flic.kr/p/d9jBg
Joseph Campbell: http://www.starwars.wikia.com
Star Wars: www.cinemablend.com
Wizard of Oz: http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/the-wizard-of-oz/images/2028395/title/wizard-oz-caps-screencap
Rocky: http://oppositelock.kinja.com/were-watching-rocky-in-film-studies-tomorrow-1444676988
Its a Wonderful Life: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Wonderful_Life
Avatar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(2009_film)
Indiana Jones (jungle): http://io9.com/why-archeologists-hate-indiana-jones-1636800753
Indiana Jones (classroom): http://www.themarysue.com/indiana-jones-mystery-solved/
Indiana Jones (artifact): galleryhip.com
Sherlock Holmes: http://romeodistrictlibrary.org/?attachment_id=4056
Ocean’s 11: http://www.zecatalist.com/columns/retro-review-oceans-11/
Mrs Doubtfire: http://abc7.com/archive/9507229/
PHOTOS