Storytelling for User Experience

10/30/2012 · No Responses

We all tell stories. It’s one of the most natural ways to share information, as old as the human race. This book is not about a new technique, but how to use something we already know in a new way. Stories help us gather and communicate user research, put a human face on analytic data, communicate design ideas, encourage collaboration and innovation, and create a sense of shared history and purpose. This book looks across the full spectrum of user experience design to discover when and how to use stories to improve our products. Whether you are a researcher, designer, analyst or manager, you will find ideas and techniques you can put to use in your practice.

If you…

Need to share research and design insights in a compelling and effective way
Struggle to communicate the meaning of a large body of data in a way that everyone just “gets”
Want to explore a new, innovative idea, and imagine its future

… this book can help you, by showing you how and when to choose, create and use stories.

“Stories facilitate a level of communication that is as close to telepathy as you can get. Kevin and Whitney guide you to use storytelling in `how to’ scenarios so smoothly that you may never realize how far you leapfrogged ahead and never know the mistakes you didn’t make because of this book. It’s that good.”
—Annette Simmons, author of The Story Factor

“A very practical, readable survey of ways to use one of the world’s oldest and most powerful transmedia forms—storytelling—to increase the coherence and effectiveness of digital artifacts. Brooks and Quesenbery offer concrete strategies for creating a richer design process and more successful user experiences.”
—Janet Murray, Director of Graduate Studies, Digital Media M.S./Ph.D. Program, Georgia Tech

“Whitney and Kevin clearly articulate the power and effectiveness of storytelling for understanding users and communicating their real experiences to all project stakeholders. Their guidelines for integrating storytelling into user research and design have already given me new ways to help my clients better know their users and deliver great products and services. This is a reference I will be reaching for regularly.”
—Karen Bachmann, Partner, Seascape Consulting

“I have been tantalized by the power of the story to impact so many facets of the user experience process. The arrival of this thoughtful, actionable, and wide-ranging book is a glorious day!
—Steve Portigal, Principal, Portigal Consulting

Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Why Stories?
Chapter 2. How UX Stories Work
Chapter 3. Stories Start with Listening (and Observing)
Chapter 4. The Ethics of Stories
Chapter 5. Stories as Part of a UX Process
Chapter 6. Collecting Stories (as Part of Research)
Chapter 7. Selecting Stories (as Part of Analysis)
Chapter 8. Using Stories for Design Ideas
Chapter 9. Evaluating with Stories
Chapter 10. Sharing Stories (Managing Up and Across)
Chapter 11. Crafting a Story
Chapter 12. Considering the Audience
Chapter 13. Combining the Ingredients of a Story
Chapter 14. Developing Structure and Plot
Chapter 15. Ways to Tell Stories
Chapter 16. Try Something New