Browse Books

Reviewer: Bernice T. Glenn

For over 100,000 years, before our species knew how to read or write, we told stories to carry forth our knowledge, values, and interests. It took another 5,000 years before the ability to read and write became a familiar skill. Stories were the primary way our ancestors transmitted to their offspring and kindred their knowledge about themselves, ancestors and enemies, histories and conventions, clan values and traditions, and tribal gods and tribal enemies. Think about the stories that Homer told about valiant heroes, the experiences they endured, and the dangers they conquered, stories that existed for centuries in oral form before they were written down for us to read. To this day, children still crave a bedtime story before going to sleep. Stories and storytelling have longevity and represent the many aspects of human thought and being, whether they were told eons ago around a campfire staving off the dark or in the present dark of a movie theater. Using the story metaphor, storytelling has navigated into the development of business strategies and into computer programming (as in the agile environment) to capture what both client and user wish to achieve. Stories are becoming a starting point for enhancing the user experience when designing for computer and mobile device interactivity. This book provides a guide for user experience designers. The content is a practicum for crafting stories as an aid to the user experience design process. Three types of themes are used to present the information in this book. The first concerns why stories can be useful in user experience and how they work. The second presents an overview of the user experience process, showing how stories can be introduced throughout the creation process, from research to final analysis. The third examines the craft of creating and using stories by addressing the right audience with the right story, the story structure and plot, and the media used to transmit the story. Each chapter focuses on a series of stories and main headings. A main heading may contain a lot of sub-content, or it may be followed by a lengthy story that expands on the heading. For more specific advice, tables may be used. For example, the table "How to structure an interview" tells readers what to do in column 1 and how to do it in column 2. The information in each chapter is thorough, highly useful, and packed with relevant information. Stories (mainly by practitioners) are introduced throughout each chapter on their own or to substantiate a major heading. Irregular secondary headings that may accompany a story or additional explanatory text are also included, along with an occasional table. Because so much information is introduced in what appears to be a variable format, it is best to read and practice just one chapter at a time for a full understanding of the tasks described. User experience designers, as well as other team members, will find this book useful when developing stories that connect design ideas with the users of the product. These may include stories for design scenarios, persona development, flowcharts, and analysis. Pointers for showing how and when to choose, create, and use stories, along with guidelines on how to create a good story, will help those who feel insecure in their storytelling abilities. Online Computing Reviews Service