Cindy Chastain – Thinking Like a Storyteller

I saw Kyle had suggested that we watched this talk by Cindy Chastain in order to help us think like storytellers for this module, so I decided to give it a watch and take note of my thoughts.

Right from the start, Chastain captivated the audience well with an anecdote about some tweets she had seen the week before in regards to interaction designers and storytelling.

A few people seemed to think that storytelling isn’t that important for interaction design, but Chastain disagrees.

Chastain says that we now use the word storytelling has become a word that is used in context with designing interactive products. Like user stories, user personas, scenarios, and storyboards.

Storytelling is used both as a communication tool, and a framework.

Chastain goes on to tell how the user’s narrative is very interesting – especially the stream of self-talk involved when a user interacts with a product.

We are then asked how we, as designers, can use storytelling in our design.

Good storytelling can engage a user. Stories provide meaning, and I fully agree with this statement. Storytelling is extremely important in creating a meaningful and memorable user experience.

Stories engage us because of the way that they are designed.

This statement has inspired me to try and make my visual narrative as well-designed as possible. I want the user to be engaged, and I want them to enjoy the experience they have whilst interacting with the product.

Chastain believes that the manner of storytelling that interaction designers can learn from the most, is dramatic storytelling. She then went on to explain what dramatic storytelling is, which I found very interesting. I also knew some of it from doing Media Studies in secondary school, and I think that knowledge will also prove to be very useful for me in this module.

Task flows are a way of storytelling. I thought that this way of thinking was really cool. Thinking of the user as a character in a story, where their decisions lead to different routes within the story, and then a particular ending.

Narrative Craft

• Thought, character, and plot are most important in storytelling.
• We need to understand empathy, and how to put ourselves in the shoes of the user in order to create good and engaging design.
• The cognitive and emotional aspects of storytelling gives the narrative meaning

Challenge

If we can move away from thinking of products in terms of interfaces and start thinking of them as representations or environments, in which agents preform actions, we will get us to a place where we can design more fluid and engaging dialogues/experiences.

To do this, we must understand the craft of storytelling.

Thoughts

I found this talk to be really informative. It’s made me think of the UX process in a different way, and hopefully I will continue to think of it in regards to a story teller as I continue through this module.

I thought that Cindy Chastain did a really good job at relating interaction design back to storytelling, and I will definitely look back to her insights as I work on my project and visual narrative.