Reflection- Story Telling

Challenge & Selection  Storytelling is a powerful communication tool that enables us as a human being to  understand more about our emotional experiences. This makes it an effective method to  use during the design process. It can be used during the design thinking process phases  with a different goal in each stage. It helps explain the interconnections among people in  situations and settings, teaching broad lessons that engage real human beings. Listening  engages people; and  empathy is an essential and fundamental component in the  process. I am an individual whose life has been through a number of story, and from my  experience too, stories engage people and aid researchers in identifying patterns and  trends. I have already applied design thinking methodology to understand elements that  lead to success in higher education among first generation and low-income students.  Listening to and empathizing with their needs, I gained enormous insights into the  types of support services and mentoring first gens feel will help them navigate the  academic and social challenges they face from the time they complete high school .    Application  There is a story which reminds me of suitable application for this Story telling with  design thinking. That story was a wonderful moment in third act of the 2012 biopic  Hitchcock. The premiere of Psycho is nearing the infamous shower scene. Hitch, played  by Anthony Hopkins, waits in the foyer, his ear pressed to the theatre door. He’s  listening for the audience reaction.  Then suddenly from within we hear the recognizable jabs of strings and the audience  begins to scream. Hitchcock sways his arms like a conductor, anticipating every gasp  and every cry from his audience. He walks away satisfied. It’s a wonderful nod to  Hitchcock’s extraordinary ability to control his audience reaction. We call him the  Master of suspence, but really he was the master of something much more interesting,  something half a centrury we’ve come to call User Experience.  It’s a design term employed in relation to a user’s interaction with an interface, be it an  app, a website or a physical device. When our stories appear on, or as one of these  things, I believe it is a term journalists, producers and storytellers of all stripes must  understand too.      Insight & Approach  When you do this in non-fiction, you focus on designing a narrative that pulls an  audience in and delivers them elegantly to a meaningful climax, instead of just creating a  logical arrangement of the facts.With each scene, each beat, Hitchcock would know what  his audience would be thinking. How many journalists and non-fiction producers plot  this when they create their stories? It might seem unfair to compare an iconic thriller  director with a hack writing on the web but I am increasingly convinced that on a noisy  internet in a complicated world, we owe it to our audiences to produce stories which are  more than just a rehash of the inverted pyramid.

This course made me see this as a tool in a new way. Now I can prepare ahead and think  of stories that will assist me in presenting my ideas and best illuminate them.

I have an engineering background, but I have more interest in Art and Literature. I had  no idea this would ever be considered an asset, but I am so very grateful that it is!


Reflection- Story Telling Challenge & Selection Storytelling is a powerful communication tool that enables us as a human being to understand more about our emotional experiences . This makes it an effective method to use during the design process . It can be used during the design thinking process phases with a different goal in each stage . It helps explain the interconnections among people in situations and settings , teaching broad lessons that engage real human beings . Listening engages people ; and empathy is an essential and fundamental component in the process . I am an individual whose life has been through a number of story , and from my experience too , stories engage people and aid researchers in identifying patterns and trends . I have already applied design thinking methodology to understand elements that lead to success in higher education among first generation and low - income students . Listening to and empathizing with their needs , I gained enormous insights into the types of support services and mentoring first gens feel will help them navigate the academic and social challenges they face from the time they complete high school . Application There is a story which reminds me of suitable application for this Story telling with design thinking . That story was a wonderful moment in third act of the 2012 biopic Hitchcock . The premiere of Psycho is nearing the infamous shower scene . Hitch , played by Anthony Hopkins , waits in the foyer , his ear pressed to the theatre door . He ’s listening for the audience reaction . Then suddenly from within we hear the recognizable jabs of strings and the audience begins to scream . Hitchcock sways his arms like a conductor , anticipating every gasp and every cry from his audience . He walks away satisfied . It ’s a wonderful nod to Hitchcock ’s extraordinary ability to control his audience reaction . We call him the Master of suspence , but really he was the master of something much more interesting , something half a centrury we ’ve come to call User Experience . It ’s a design term employed in relation to a user ’s interaction with an interface , be it an app , a website or a physical device . When our stories appear on , or as one of these things , I believe it is a term journalists , producers and storytellers of all stripes must understand too . Insight & Approach When you do this in non - fiction , you focus on designing a narrative that pulls an audience in and delivers them elegantly to a meaningful climax , instead of just creating a logical arrangement of the facts . With each scene , each beat , Hitchcock would know what his audience would be thinking . How many journalists and non - fiction producers plot this when they create their stories ? It might seem unfair to compare an iconic thriller director with a hack writing on the web but I am increasingly convinced that on a noisy internet in a complicated world , we owe it to our audiences to produce stories which are more than just a rehash of the inverted pyramid . This course made me see this as a tool in a new way . Now I can prepare ahead and think of stories that will assist me in presenting my ideas and best illuminate them . I have an engineering background , but I have more interest in Art and Literature . I had no idea this would ever be considered an asset , but I am so very grateful that it is !