Story Telling      Challenge & Selection                        Stories help the audience to relate & empathize with the user’s problem and  understand how the proposed solution could integrate with the user’s lives and solve the  problem. I use storytelling to showcase my solution to our clients in a much more immersive  way.  It also helps the other team members & clients to visualize the integration of the  product into the user’s life in a much better way. I am a UX designer by profession & I work  at an IT firm where I design digital solutions for large MNCs like Unilever, Toyota to achieve  certain user and business goals as defined by them. I design websites or applications for  ecommerce, office management, vehicle management, Banking and finance, retail space,  education etc.                      At the beginning of any project, my aim always is to understand the ecosystem  clearly and the roles and goals of the stakeholders involved. This is the (what is?) stage, and  I try to gain as much information about the current ecosystem as possible through  secondary research, user interviews, expert interviews etc. Then I visualize the information  to get to the core of the problem among the stakeholders through concept fan. In this  process we try to get to the root of the problem by expanding it & asking “why?” and find  the reasons behind each problem. It becomes kind of a chain of reasons, until we find the  root cause of the problem.                       With all this information we create a user journey and try to find out the pain  points of the user and design opportunities where the journey could be made much more  seamless and enjoyable for the user. After that we brainstorm ideas to solve those pain  points and make a list of possible solutions. To visualize the solutions properly integrated  with the user’s journey we create stories with comic strip like drawings and portray the  situation and user’s emotions much more vividly. Pitching our ideas through stories  generates intrigue, as we create high and low points to create excitement & suspense,  which in turn expands the attention span of our audience.       Application                        At first, I construct the story roughly in the form of a flow chart. Initially I give a  descriptive picture of the current situation of the user and his surroundings and then build  up the story on how my product or solution solves the user’s problems or other frustrations  and how the user engages with the product and completes his desired goals with the given  product. Storytelling also helps to question and discuss the viability of other solutions  presented by the designers, so that the proposed design takes almost every possible  situation into account.                       To create the stories, I mostly pick my content from my initial user research. At  the time of the ecosystem analysis, we get the idea of the present system in which the  stakeholders are functioning. After that we get more insights from the user interviews like  motivation to buy or interact with the product or possible frustrations while using the  product. At journey mapping we pick the exact pain points in the user’s journey through the

product or service. At story telling we just try to show the user’s journey visually with the  proposed solutions as how it impacts all the pain points. We mostly sketch the moments  where the user interacts with the product and also try to show the user’s expressions. It  mostly looks like comic strips. This gives the audience a fair idea about how the designer  visualized the product and how it sits in the user’s life. We mostly use the story telling in the  research phase.                       I would like to give one example where we used storytelling to understand how  the product features fits with the user’s journey. It was a hotel guest app for luxury hotels,  from which guests can book a hotel room and order a host of other services via the app. We  build the story as follows:                                             John is an investment banker. He has to travel overseas frequently for work. This  time John is flying from Mumbai to New York. The flight landed at 10 in the morning. John is  extremely tired and jet lagged & wants to get to his room as fast as possible. He arrives at  the hotel by 12 pm and waits at the lobby for checking in which starts at 2 pm. After 2 hours  check-in process starts and he waits for his turn. For check-in he has to show his passport  and visa at the front desk for verification after that he is given the key card of his room. John  is escorted to his room by the bell boy. In this scenario John has to face a lot of frustrations.  The following is the scenario where John has already checked-in online via the mobile app  and got his electronic key in his mobile.                       John arrives at the hotel, scan the barcode at the counter to enter the hotel  lobby and then he goes directly to his room, open the door with electronic key at his mobile  phone and takes rest. This skips all the frustrations in John’s journey and gets him directly to  his room.                   To showcase the impact of the solution to the John’s journey, we compare it with  the John’s present journey with the help of sketches.     Sketches mostly include a comic strip of John interacting with the mobile app & hotel  counter for scanning the barcode to enter the hotel and then for entering his room with  NFC enabled electronic key in the app. But the story will probably start with a scenario of  John arriving at the airport and showcase his emotions with some dialogue bubble.   So, this is how we use storytelling to express/pitch our design solution to our clients.      Insight & Approach    Story telling helps audience to visualize and connect with newer & more radical concepts  and helps them to understand the impact in the user’s life. It helps the viewers to see  through the perspective of the designer and the user which leads to a better and easier  understanding of the whole situation. The visual cues also add to the impact of the solution  and the emotional state of the user while interacting with the product.     What I have learnt from this approach?  In this course I got to know another aspect of storytelling and a clear understanding of how  it is used in business world to create a brand. It helps the audience to connect with the  brand emotionally and express the values it stands for. The essence of storytelling in our  design process is almost similar as how it is used in the business scenario.

Knowing our audience. We usually design our story to be visually rich and with  simple scenarios which are easy to understand for our clients, as not everyone can visualize  a scenario in their mind. We try to be as visually descriptive and representative as possible,  so that it is easier to imagine the scenario, we are trying to portray. As in the guest app, the  clients could easily understand how our solutions reduce the frustration of the user in a  particular scenario/problem. Through stories, viewers can easily imagine themselves in the  user’s shoes and starts connecting with the product and empathize with the problem, and  understand its root cause in the actual scenario which reflects the user’s frustration in the  story. We focus on sequencing of the story based on the actual journey of the user while  interacting with the current service or product. I think the comparison helps to build  suspense and the solutions reduce the suspense when they are compared with the previous  scenarios.                      In future I plan to use the story telling as a way to communicate with business  analysts to provide reasoning for a particular solution. Storytelling could also be useful to  share and express a vision with the team members. This reinforces the belief of the team  behind the company’s vision. A good story could bring together a team which shares the  company’s values and move forward to achieve a common goal.


Story Telling Challenge & Selection Stories help the audience to relate & empathize with the user ’s problem and understand how the proposed solution could integrate with the user ’s lives and solve the problem . I use storytelling to showcase my solution to our clients in a much more immersive way . It also helps the other team members & clients to visualize the integration of the product into the user ’s life in a much better way . I am a UX designer by profession & I work at an IT firm where I design digital solutions for large MNCs like Unilever , Toyota to achieve certain user and business goals as defined by them . I design websites or applications for ecommerce , office management , vehicle management , Banking and finance , retail space , education etc . At the beginning of any project , my aim always is to understand the ecosystem clearly and the roles and goals of the stakeholders involved . This is the ( what is ? ) stage , and I try to gain as much information about the current ecosystem as possible through secondary research , user interviews , expert interviews etc . Then I visualize the information to get to the core of the problem among the stakeholders through concept fan . In this process we try to get to the root of the problem by expanding it & asking “ why ? ” and find the reasons behind each problem . It becomes kind of a chain of reasons , until we find the root cause of the problem . With all this information we create a user journey and try to find out the pain points of the user and design opportunities where the journey could be made much more seamless and enjoyable for the user . After that we brainstorm ideas to solve those pain points and make a list of possible solutions . To visualize the solutions properly integrated with the user ’s journey we create stories with comic strip like drawings and portray the situation and user ’s emotions much more vividly . Pitching our ideas through stories generates intrigue , as we create high and low points to create excitement & suspense , which in turn expands the attention span of our audience . Application At first , I construct the story roughly in the form of a flow chart . Initially I give a descriptive picture of the current situation of the user and his surroundings and then build up the story on how my product or solution solves the user ’s problems or other frustrations and how the user engages with the product and completes his desired goals with the given product . Storytelling also helps to question and discuss the viability of other solutions presented by the designers , so that the proposed design takes almost every possible situation into account . To create the stories , I mostly pick my content from my initial user research . At the time of the ecosystem analysis , we get the idea of the present system in which the stakeholders are functioning . After that we get more insights from the user interviews like motivation to buy or interact with the product or possible frustrations while using the product . At journey mapping we pick the exact pain points in the user ’s journey through the product or service . At story telling we just try to show the user ’s journey visually with the proposed solutions as how it impacts all the pain points . We mostly sketch the moments where the user interacts with the product and also try to show the user ’s expressions . It mostly looks like comic strips . This gives the audience a fair idea about how the designer visualized the product and how it sits in the user ’s life . We mostly use the story telling in the research phase . I would like to give one example where we used storytelling to understand how the product features fits with the user ’s journey . It was a hotel guest app for luxury hotels , from which guests can book a hotel room and order a host of other services via the app . We build the story as follows : John is an investment banker . He has to travel overseas frequently for work . This time John is flying from Mumbai to New York . The flight landed at 10 in the morning . John is extremely tired and jet lagged & wants to get to his room as fast as possible . He arrives at the hotel by 12 pm and waits at the lobby for checking in which starts at 2 pm . After 2 hours check - in process starts and he waits for his turn . For check - in he has to show his passport and visa at the front desk for verification after that he is given the key card of his room . John is escorted to his room by the bell boy . In this scenario John has to face a lot of frustrations . The following is the scenario where John has already checked - in online via the mobile app and got his electronic key in his mobile . John arrives at the hotel , scan the barcode at the counter to enter the hotel lobby and then he goes directly to his room , open the door with electronic key at his mobile phone and takes rest . This skips all the frustrations in John ’s journey and gets him directly to his room . To showcase the impact of the solution to the John ’s journey , we compare it with the John ’s present journey with the help of sketches . Sketches mostly include a comic strip of John interacting with the mobile app & hotel counter for scanning the barcode to enter the hotel and then for entering his room with NFC enabled electronic key in the app . But the story will probably start with a scenario of John arriving at the airport and showcase his emotions with some dialogue bubble . So , this is how we use storytelling to express / pitch our design solution to our clients . Insight & Approach Story telling helps audience to visualize and connect with newer & more radical concepts and helps them to understand the impact in the user ’s life . It helps the viewers to see through the perspective of the designer and the user which leads to a better and easier understanding of the whole situation . The visual cues also add to the impact of the solution and the emotional state of the user while interacting with the product . What I have learnt from this approach ? In this course I got to know another aspect of storytelling and a clear understanding of how it is used in business world to create a brand . It helps the audience to connect with the brand emotionally and express the values it stands for . The essence of storytelling in our design process is almost similar as how it is used in the business scenario . Knowing our audience . We usually design our story to be visually rich and with simple scenarios which are easy to understand for our clients , as not everyone can visualize a scenario in their mind . We try to be as visually descriptive and representative as possible , so that it is easier to imagine the scenario , we are trying to portray . As in the guest app , the clients could easily understand how our solutions reduce the frustration of the user in a particular scenario / problem . Through stories , viewers can easily imagine themselves in the user ’s shoes and starts connecting with the product and empathize with the problem , and understand its root cause in the actual scenario which reflects the user ’s frustration in the story . We focus on sequencing of the story based on the actual journey of the user while interacting with the current service or product . I think the comparison helps to build suspense and the solutions reduce the suspense when they are compared with the previous scenarios . In future I plan to use the story telling as a way to communicate with business analysts to provide reasoning for a particular solution . Storytelling could also be useful to share and express a vision with the team members . This reinforces the belief of the team behind the company ’s vision . A good story could bring together a team which shares the company ’s values and move forward to achieve a common goal .