In early February 2023, I had the opportunity to attend an insightful UX talk Beyond Designing: The Journey to Great Product Design, hosted by FPT Software. There were many interesting discussions, but my favorite was Storytelling in UX Design by Heilyn Nguyễn. I was inspired by the metaphors she used to illustrate the connections between Design (the movie crew), Users (the main characters), and the Product (the movie).
She also discussed how storytelling is a form of user research. Designing a great user experience is like telling a story, where the user (the main character) faces a problem (the conflict) and moves through a series of steps (the plot) within a specific context or environment (the theme).
How to apply the storytelling approach to UX design
User (the main character): Start by defining user personas and understanding who they are and what they need, much like getting to know the main character in a story. → Use interviews, surveys, or observations to understand your users’ age, behavior, reasons, and goals.
User problem (the conflict): Identify the core problem or pain point to be solved, which drives the narrative of the user’s journey. → Use methods like usability testing, interviews, and journey mapping to uncover issues and highlight the conflicts in the story.
User scenario (the plot): Map out the steps users take to reach their goals and design a flow based on real user data. → Create user journeys or task flows based on real data, and observe users to see how the product fits into their lives.
Context (the theme): Understand the context, including external factors, constraints, and the environment that shape the user experience. → Use contextual research and observations to see how users interact with the product in their real-life. Also, look at competitors and trends that affect the experience.
The next step is to turn the research insights into actionable design decisions. Frame hypotheses as statements that address user problems (the conflict) and improve user scenarios (the plot) within the right context (the theme).