Thinking like a Storyteller
This week, we were told to listen to this talk by Cindy Chastain on storytelling. This blog post will be my thoughts and reflections on this.
As designers, we tell stories in lots of ways:
- Communication., user stories, personas, scenarios, storyboards, and even comics.
- Framework., brand stories, and product stories.
Another part of this is user narratives/self-narratives
This is when the user narrates to themselves whilst using the product, what it means and how it works. This helps them process information. This is something I hadn’t considered with storytelling as I only thought about how the designers themselves tell a story.
Why are stories important?
- They provide meaning
- They engage our emotions and minds
- They provide satisfaction when you finish the story
I think that designs that tell a story are much more engaging for users, and it makes them more likely to complete tasks.
“If we as designers, had a better understanding of how stories are crafted, we would have a better understanding of how to craft deeper kinds of engagement in the interactive products we create”.
Dramatic Storytelling
This image shows the layout of dramatic storytelling. I think this way of storytelling is something myself and other designers can learn from. After all, everything with design should have a beginning, middle, and end, like stories.
Elements of drama:
- Plot
- Characters
- Thought
- Diction (language)
- Song (pattern)
- Spectacle (visuals)
When you think about it, these are all things that we work within interaction design, therefore, we should be able to incorporate them into our work.
Mechanics of dramatic narration that apply to IXD:
- Communicate potential: Show the user all the possibilities.
- Express causality: Reveal why things happen.
- Reinforce probability: This allows users to anticipate what happens next.
- Facilitate completion: This involves the satisfaction users get when completing a task.
Overall, I found this talk very informative and a great introduction to narrative and storytelling. I am already starting to see the importance of designing with a narrative in mind. I am looking forward to learning more about this and how to improve the interactions users have with my designs.