Designed experiences make the difference between belonging and rejecting; between connecting and missing; between believing and doubting. The threshold can be slight — everyone knows when you’re fake-smiling. As UX designers, we make it our mission to invite people to belong, connect, and believe. Storytelling gets us there. From understanding stakeholders and contexts to crafting experiences that resonate and delight, storytelling gets us to the moments that count. In this talk, we will discuss how you can use storytelling to pinpoint compelling UX opportunities — opportunities that invite a flicker of hope in the hearts of many and inspire action. (presented at the Homegrown lecture series hosted by AIGA Raleigh Chapter)

1. Storytelling
finding UX moments that count
Amber Howard, Ph.D.
@amberkhoward
February 12, 2013

7. Customers don't know
what they want until
we've shown them.
— Steve Jobs

8. Qwikster

9. Muhammad Yunas, Grameen Bank

10. welcome
to the party

11. create to resonate

12. CREATE TO RESONATE
the difference between
belonging, connecting, & believing
rejecting missing doubting

13. increase the overlap
MINDSETS & DESIGNED
EXPECTATIONS CONDITIONS

14. CREATE TO RESONATE
storytelling gets us there we are all storytellers.
story is a fundamental part
of our existence.

15. make the
experience
count

16. Do you enjoy
being a designer?

17. Why do you love
being a designer?

18. Tell a story about
a time when you felt
fulfilled as a designer.

19. storytelling
is a state of
mind

20. invite storytelling

22. INVITE STORYTELLING
experience is non-conscious consciousness is a bubbling
up of non-conscious
awareness.

23. INVITE STORYTELLING
the non-conscious knows
Iowa gambling task

24. stories are
windows to
the non-listen for the elephant in
the trainer’s voice.
one story is not enough.
conscious

25. what to ask

26. TEXT
If I had asked people
what they want,
they would have
Text Text
said faster horses.
— Henry Ford

27. WHAT TO ASK
what you ask depends on
how you want the design to resonate

28. atmospheres of resonance

29. ASSETS
What do people have?
What can we make?

30. ASSETS ACTIONS
What do people do?
How can we streamline the process?

31. ASSETS ACTIONS EXPERIENCES
How do people relate?
How can we make it fulfilling?

32. ASSETS ACTIONS EXPERIENCES VISION
What do people value?
How can we align perceptions?

33. ASSETS ACTIONS EXPERIENCES VISION CULTURE
What do people believe?
How can we expand possibility?

34. observable inferential
ASSETS ACTIONS EXPERIENCES VISION CULTURE

35. tactical strategic
ASSETS ACTIONS EXPERIENCES VISION CULTURE

36. If I had asked people
what they want,
they would have
said faster horses.

37. If I had asked people
to tell a story,
they would have
surprised & inspired me.

38. how do you
want to
resonate

39. design the experience

41. DESIGN THE EXPERIENCE
design the experience
ask & listen to the non-conscious

42. DESIGN THE EXPERIENCE
facilitating a storytelling session

43. DESIGN THE EXPERIENCE
know your role know the encouraging &
supportive persona you’re
going to play.

45. DESIGN THE EXPERIENCE
calm the elephant provide no-stakes
opportunities to tell casual
stories.

47. DESIGN THE EXPERIENCE
give a basic structure Great stories are designed.
Give people the structure to
tell great stories.

48. structure of a story

49. SETTING
What was the situation?
Where do significant moments happen?

50. SETTING CHARACTERS
Who was involved?
What roles and relationships matter?

51. SETTING CHARACTERS JOURNEY
What happened?
How did emotions & perspectives transform?

52. SETTING CHARACTERS JOURNEY RESOLUTION
How did it end?
How was tension resolved?
Who does the person want to be?

53. SETTING CHARACTERS JOURNEY RESOLUTION MORAL
Why did it matter?
What is valued?
What are the person’s hopes?

54. DESIGN THE EXPERIENCE
SETTING CHARACTERS JOURNEY RESOLUTION MORAL

56. DESIGN THE EXPERIENCE
provide a safety net give people a space to
collect their thoughts
before sharing.

58. DESIGN THE EXPERIENCE
make it social people are comfortable
sharing stories with peers
— it builds camaraderie.
find ways to record the
conversation.

60. invite the
elephant to
share

61. analyzing stories

62. ANALYZING STORIES
all these stories...
how do we make sense of them?

63. ANALYZING STORIES
themes from many pieces
using grounded theory lite

64. ANALYZING STORIES
transcribe the stories get all the stories into a
comparable format.

66. ANALYZING STORIES
develop a coding system make dots so you
can connect them.
the dots should be
project-specific.

67. story elements
SETTING CHARACTERS JOURNEY RESOLUTION MORAL
location relationships before/during/after transformation significance
time roles trigger hopes identity
tools tension aspirations
emotion
drama

70. ANALYZING STORIES
categorize by affinity identify patterns & themes.
Find significant moments.

72. find out
through
systematic
inquiry

73. synthesizing stories

74. SYNTHESIZING STORIES
tell a story that is
relevant and meaningful
SETTING CHARACTERS JOURNEY RESOLUTION MORAL

75. SYNTHESIZING STORIES
BELONGING: common mindsets situations & roles
SETTING CHARACTERS JOURNEY RESOLUTION MORAL

76. in a new environment
Teachers
outside their comfort zone
Principals who were overwhelmed, but persevered,
with too much to do in too little time
Staff
when faced with a crisis

77. SYNTHESIZING STORIES
CONNECTING: leverage points journey & progression
SETTING CHARACTERS JOURNEY RESOLUTION MORAL

78. Facilitate
reflection
Provide set
specific praise benchmarks
How am I doing?
“Confidence and a sense of success is I’M CONFIDENT
pretty awesome for me. It means a lot I WOULD ENGAGE
to be comfortable in your own skin.” WITH THE ONLINE
COMMUNITY TO
— teacher
VALUE
ADDED
VALUE
I AM I NEED I REFLECT BY I’M AFFIRMED
Overwhelmed Reassurance celebrating success
& unsure asking for feedback
about
using
LinkedIn
Google
my expectations Facebook
Edutopia
performance
Skype

79. SYNTHESIZING STORIES
BELIEVING: purpose values & perceptions
SETTING CHARACTERS JOURNEY RESOLUTION MORAL

80. Where we want to go as a City
General advice from the group
Lay the foundation for
21st century growth.
Built upon these pillars
public
transportation density communication
effective public other
convention
transit system walkable features/ groups
economic center
riverfront attractions development
entrepreneurs chamber
wayfinding population
monorail NCSU/
Universities/
transportation Colleges city
to RDU DRA
References for success ocean/mountain > Amsterdam infrastructure for lots
> Fortune 500 companies in NYC of people
> Keep Austin weird > NYC culture/grid/mindset/designers > Austin music
> Charlotte preserves history > Portland downtown transportation > Nashville music
> Districts in Paris > Bike ecosystem of Copenhagen/Paris/ > Music scene in northwest
> Salt Lake City water feature, Amsterdam/San Francisco

81. SYNTHESIZING STORIES
MOMENTUM: strategy engagement architecture
action plan

82. 41%
HUB AND SPOKE
A community hub is like a bicycle wheel, with spokes
radiating out from the center.
Community hubs are the central gathering place for
featured content and discussion. The centralized
position of the hub ensures that the nodes are aligned
with the organization’s brand.
The spokes, radiating from the hub, route members to
need-specific resources.
Since one tool does not fit all, the nodes provide a suite
of curated tools and resources that cater to specific
needs, expectations, and values of the community.
MODELS FOR SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
10.8% 28.8% 18% 1.4%
ORGANIC TREE DANDELION HONEYCOMB
No one department manages or One department manages all social Similar to Hub and Spoke but Everyone in the organization uses
coordinates; efforts bubble up from activities. applicable to organizations with social media safely and consistently
the edges of the company. several autonomous sub-groups. across all organizations.
Data based on 140 surveyed social companies, courtesy of Altimeter Group, 2010.

83. The conversations and ideas
that came from the Pathways to
Opportunity Tour demonstrated
that North Carolina wants RTP
to be a convener, a connector, a
catalyst.
Here’s how RTP plans to fulfill
those roles:
CONVENER CONNECTOR CATALYST
THIS YEAR, RTP WILL INVITE RTP WILL DEVELOP AN ONLINE RTP WILL BUILD AN
REPRESENTATIVES FROM COMMUNITY TO ESTABLISH INNOVATIVE COMMUNITY FOR
ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA TO AN ONGOING CONVERSATION SHARING NEW IDEAS.
COME TOGETHER IN THE PARK. ABOUT THE FUTURE OF NORTH
The center will fulfill the expectations
CAROLINA.
Events hosted in RTP will give we heard on the Pathways to
passionate people an opportunity to Different forms of online media will Opportunity tour: it will connect North
collaborate and learn from one another allow RTP to share timely information Carolina and brand our state as a global
to drive economic development in their about the Park and the state’s leader in innovation and collaboration.
own communities. development. Open communications
platforms will give North Carolina a
place to share stories and ideas.

84. moments
that count

85. invite people
to the party

86. storytelling
gets us there

87. be systematic
about it

88. belong,
connect, &
believe

89. moments
that resonate

90. thank you.
Amber Howard, Ph.D.
@amberkhoward