UX professionals have different ways of incorporating storytelling into communication with colleagues, presenting findings to executives, and writing case studies. MacDonald, et al. interviewed senior UX professionals on their communication practices, in an effort to understand what should be taught to human-computer interaction students to prepare them for careers in UX that put an emphasis on communication and collaboration. From interview content analysis, the researchers came up with findings in communication goals (the why), intended audiences (the who), and communication methods (the how) (MacDonald 1426). Commonly planned communication techniques included meetings, presentations,
and workshops, and impromptu ones included critiques, sitting together, and informal conversation (MacDonald 1429). These can get quite creative, with presentations being immersive, getting the team to play with competitors’ technology and take the experience of real users. “Sitting together” (MacDonald 1430) allows colleagues to share stories of what occurs in the business as a whole and to “eavesdrop” (MacDonald 1430) on what “could potentially have downstream impacts” (MacDonald 1430) on the team. Fluid artifacts, or asynchronous communication methods like journey maps and “user stories” (MacDonald 1430), are used to explain methods and needs in a story-like fashion.
Dr. Turner communicates through written case studies and presents them to executives in the organization she is working with. When writing case studies, “I present aggregated user narratives, meaning I don’t identify people by name and instead I group users based on response type, attitude, or need. I use direct quotes from users and quantify some information (e.g., 50% of users expressed similar concerns) because the organization frequently uses this information to determine the severity of an issue, which determines the priority of changes that occur” (Turner). Utilizing the right methods, like direct quotes and making composite groups of people with similarities, can help in persuading higher-ups that may not see the potential rewards ($) that can come from good user experiences. Turner uses “stories to humanize data I’ve collected and to amplify the strengths of community members and users” (Turner).
When she presents to executives, Iris Beneli tells “bits and pieces of what [she] saw.” Even if it's not in the actual report, “It adds interest to the data” (Beneli). Sometimes she has actual videos, like with her current digital diary study, to share in all-team meetings, so UXers can share real user stories with executives. A big part of this job is persuading your points on usability, so having this skill is important for UXers.
0:27 - 1:04 (Krause)
Showing these stories can grant empathy to the user and add pathos to your argument. Although, Dr. Turner says, “there are limits to empathy because of each individual’s positionality” (Turner). Instead to trying to put listeners in the user’s shoes, since oftentimes they will not be able to fully understand a user’s circumstances, she tells it as a 3rd person story and explains why it matters for the organization.
“Instead of saying something like ‘imagine you are deciding end of life care for yourself and you don’t speak the same language as your doctor’ I would focus on ‘(these users) are deciding their own end of life care, but don’t have doctors that speak the same language as them. By designing this image-based bilingual glossary for this organization, % of patients and caregivers will be able to have an informed conversation about their care with dignity and respect’” (Turner).
Iris Beneli and I concluded our conversation by her giving me “the short answer.” Storytelling in UX is used to influence; data isn’t memorable, but stories are (Beneli). Her boss used to start off every meeting with an impactful story, and she said that you could never forget it. Stories put context to the data, and they give the why to the issue at hand (Beneli). It helps you persuade executives that these are the people that this problem is affecting—this is % of your targeted users (Beneli). Being able to communicate through storytelling is an effective way for UXers to share their research with colleagues and project leads, and to write stand-out case studies.
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