The power of storytelling in UX

Each week I answer a question on the subject of UX.

Question

How can I develop my storytelling skills, and what mediums of storytelling are out there?

Stories

Story telling enables you to take others on a journey, to galvanise your team and build bridges of understanding. Storytelling has been used for hundreds of years and it is present in all aspects of our life. It can be the difference between a ‘merh’ project and one in which the team you are working in truly understands and is bought into what you are aiming to achieve. One in which stakeholders are aware and excited about what it is you are building towards. One that delivers real value to users.

Its one of the most important skills any UX designer, or any other professional, can have.

Few people are natural story tellers and this article is not about becoming the best at this. This is about being aware of why stories are so useful to your work as a UX designer, taking some of the fundamentals and applying them to your day to day work. To be aware of the impact they can have and knowing that it is something you should build on and improve throughout your career.

What makes a story:

Elements of a story

Here are the elements that I personally believe help make a great story. Thats not to say that all of these elements are, or must be, present in all good stories, but you will certainly see many of them in the best stories.

• Good and bad characters
• Extremes
• Elicits opinion or stance
• Relatable
• Authentic
• Sets a scene for the now
• Has multiple threads
• Builds towards a change
• Has a change
• Anticipation
• Suspense
• Moment of clarity or reckoning
• Concludes (satisfactorily)
• Conflict
• Jeopardy
• Opens the imagination
• Builds empathy
• Depth and detail
• Memorable
• Humorous
• Balance

Structure:

This is a very simplistic view on a story structure and you can find much greater detail if you look but for the level and purpose of how we will be using it it will be sufficient.

Beginning:
Set the scene, define the characters and entice the audience. Let them sense the journey they are about to embark on and why they should be interested.

Middle:
Delve into the detail. Include twists and turns that add surprise and suspense. Make them understand the situation and build intrigue.

End:
The big reveal. Show them the solution, how you have overcome adversary and are now victorious. Let them know how the future can look.

When I talk about characters, heroes and villains, in the context of your work this could be your processes, the journey, the data or any other part of your work. When telling a story around your work don’t feel the need to embellish the truth or add in dramatisations just to make a better story. This is about structuring the facts and presenting them in a way that is interesting, intriguing and informative for the audience. It should still all be useful and accurate information for your audience.

Skill development:

The breakdown:

Start structuring your work in a way that fits a story. Be aware of your audience and provide a compelling narrative to them that has a beginning middle and an end. Take a presentation and dissect it, write out on a separate document the key parts that make up that presentation. Does this flow as a story, run it past a colleague or friend and see which section make sense, identify key elements and make sure it flows.

One of the ways I learn best is to pull apart what other people have done before me. Pick your favourite TED talk and watch it all the way through then go back to the beginning and note down as you watch it again all the parts that make up the story. Some of the stuff I look for:

• Which elements from the list above are used?
• How does it start?
• How do they make it relevant to the audience?Is it clear why I am listening?
• Whats the audiences warmth to the presenter at the beginning?
• How do they build support for their point?
• Have they overcome any adversary?
• How many major points do they have?
• What level of detail are they going in to?
• How do they close?
• Whats the audience like at the end?

Some presenters can get away with the fact they are charismatic or just generally good at presenting. Don’t mistake this for a good story, these people can take a bad story and compel you to listen but it doesn’t mean they have a story thats worth telling and eventually the holes will show and the audience will lose interest. Better to have a great story with an average presenter than a bad story with a great presenter. Take Elon Musk, he is not a natural presenter but he crafts compelling stories and captivates his audience as a result. Take a look at this article which breaks down his presentation of the Tesla Powerwall https://medium.com/firm-narrative/want-a-better-pitch-watch-this-328b95c2fd0b

Yes and…

Many different skills go into creating a compelling story. Understanding the structure is one of those but I also believe that having an open mind and being able to think on the fly is an important part of being able to build those stories.

The yes and exercise requires at least two people, around 5 is ideal. One person starts by telling the others about what they did at the weekend. Keep it nice and short, it’s only supposed to set an opening situation e.g I went to the supermarket. The next person in the circle then has to build on it by adding something to the story. The only rule is that you must add to the person before you, no matter what is thrown at you. An example to follow on from the supermarket is (each line is a new person)

I went to the supermarket
Then I bought some bananas
The bananas were rubbish
So I stamped on them
A dog ate the stamped banana
The owner was annoyed
He said you have to pay the vet bill because bananas are poisonous to dogs
You are a vet
So you did the operation yourself in the supermarket
Using a spoon and fork from the cafe
……

No matter how silly it gets and how much of a curve ball the person before throws at you, make sure to keep going. Embracing what has been said before and building on it.

This exercise gets you into the mindset of going with whatever comes your way and equips you to deal with situations on the fly. Remember that time you were giving a presentation and mid way through a senior stakeholder asks an unrelated question. With practice and exercises like this you will no longer feel stuck or isolated but be able to build it into your story and presentation and get back on track.

Pixar:

I originally discovered this technique in Dan Pinks To Sell is Human. Heres the link to the original exercise sheet http://www.danpink.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/sixpitches.pdf

The idea takes Pixars template and applies it to a product pitch. My adaptation is take it and apply it to your presentations or workshops. It doesn’t always work or fit but it can be a good exercise to change your mindset and approach the problem from a different angle.

Once upon a time __________________________. Every day, _______________________. One day __________________________________. Because of that, _________________________________. Because of that, ___________________________. Until finally, ___________________________.

The other way to use this in assisting your understanding of story structure is to take some Pixar films and see if you can fill in the blanks. This will give you a breakdown of how a story that works well can fit into the format. You can also check out all 22 of Pixars story rules http://www.pixartouchbook.com/blog/2011/5/15/pixar-story-rules-one-version.html

Resources:

• Look for local workshops on storytelling — they do exist and pop up now and again
• Go to local meetups for standup comedy and improv
• Search medium — I found a load of articles when researching for this
• TED and Youtube have a mass of information
• Books — I don’t have a specific recommendation but get on amazon and start searching
• Google Google Google

Mediums:

The mediums for story telling are almost endless, books and movies are where we typically think of stories being used but they are everywhere we look: tv adverts, brochures, branding, press releases, blog posts, landing pages, cereal boxes, packaging, presentations and the list goes on.

That means that story telling has the potential to impact all aspects of your work and career. Take this into your presentations to senior stakeholders, to kick off meetings with team mates and all manor of workshops for projects.

As with anything, practice makes perfect so give it a try and start applying this to your day to day work. Find out what works, what doesn’t, adapt it and experiment. Learn as much as you can and have fun. The possibilities are endless and the potential for positive impact amazing.

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