Design is storytelling, it’s not a new notion. But what stories can our designs tell? Is there more they should tell?
What makes a design story useful?
“Frame your story in terms of the problem you are solving, including why it is a problem that needs solving” writes Lia Garvin in her article Hacking the performance review as a designer
Garvin continues:
[…] “People want to see the impact of your work — you made a document, so what? Who did it help, what did it make happen, what was made better because of your document? And within those questions, how many people or dollars were impacted?
There are many documents that have changed lives, and transformed technology. I’m not ragging on your document, just make me care” […]
So they want to see results. And telling the story of generating those results is an effective way to show them.
“If we tell stories or have conversations while using products, why not tell them before and see how it works during the design phase itself” writes Ajayraj in his article We know user stories, what are ui control stories?
Ajayra continues:
[…] “How UI stories could help us in the process? They can be used in the phase between writing user stories and creating wireframes. Since during the wireframe phase we directly jump into solutions, these stories can be used as a validation tool” […]
Integrating stories into the design process can be an effective tool in expanding the scope of your solution. So can stories be incorporated even sooner? Like before you land that designer job?
“Stories allow recruiters to imagine what it’s like to work with you” writes Yu Siang Teo in his article titled How to Write Great Case Studies for Your UX Design Portfolio
Teo continues:
[…] “when you present your case study as a story, you’ll find it far easier to give it a satisfying structure and captivate your reader … we use stories to learn and imagine all the time—in fact, people have since the dawn of human history. Therefore, recruiters will find it easier to look into the future and predict if they’d like to work with you when they read a story-based case study. They’ll find it easier to understand who you are and how you solve a problem” […]
Stories can be integrated into every aspect of a designer’s existence. From their portfolio, to their largest projects. So start incorporating stories into your work today!
Tags: UX, UI, Information design, design thinking, design, designer, research, user experience, Yu siang Teo, Ajayra, Lia Garvin, storytelling
Logan Senko 