This week I was instructed to read a chapter from my textbook for my Interactive Storytelling class. We learned about each ingredient (perspective, characters, context, imagery, language) that helps to shape a story.
Quote #1: “Changes in perspective can also suggest different needs that a new design can meet."
This was the first quote in the chapter that really caught my attention. I found it interesting to think about how the problem behind the reason for creating a product can change based on the perspective you look at it from. Whether you are looking at a problem from the shoes of a person who is 50+ rather than a person who is 25 or younger can make a vast difference in how you choose to tackle a particular design challenge. This reminds me of the movie "Maleficent" versus "Sleeping Beauty" where in one you learn to empathize with Maleficent based on how she was raised and excluded. In the other movie you see her as a villain who terrorizes a young girl. I can understand how perspective can be the basis for telling different stories about the usability of a product, and that's why we can have multiple personas in order to empathize and design products that work for a wider audience.
Quote #2: “…the character’s dictio –or what the character claims to stand for.”
What an interesting concept that I didn't know of before. I didn’t know about this word “dictio” before as used in screenwriting, but once the text described it, and related it back to usability tests, I knew I had to write a response to it. This definition reminds me of people’s characteristics and how the saying goes that what you don’t like in other people is often linked to something you might not love about yourself that you don't know of. It's not exactly the same concept, but reminded me of it because of the example where a user might say they don't know how to use a product, yet based on examining that same user in a usability test, you can find out that they can use the product quite well. This is why testing is an important part of the user experience process, as you have to take what an interviewee says at face value and see how they actually interact with the product.
Quote #3: “For instance, when telling a story about a dog, you probably want to make sure you’re clear that the animal is a dog. But you might not have to mention the breed of dog. This would allow the audience to fill in this detail themselves, possibly with the breed of their own dogs.”
This section of the text stood out to me for a few reasons. I believe that with storytelling, as much as you want to guide the audience with the story you’re telling, the best stories keep some to the imagination. I believe this allows the audience to develop a personal interest in either the character, or the product that you are selling. For example, if I’m developing an app for tracking workouts, I might share a character or personal story of why I want to start working out. But if I share some context, and leave some of my story for the audience to interpret or imagine themselves as the main character, they might develop a more personal interest in this product. Although you're setting the basis for a story, with context you're allowing the audience to create a picture based on their experiences and their background. This ultimately allows them empathize with your story even more than you just giving them all the information.