This week we were again treated to a guest lecture from three designers from local Belfast design studio Big Motive. Laura (Interaction Designer), Rachel (Design Researcher) and David (Design Lead) delivered a lecture on storytelling in design and how Big Motive uses storytelling in their projects. They also stayed on after the lecture to offer feedback on our projects and offer advice.
For my blog this week I have decided to look deeper at one of the topics discussed in Big Motive’s lecture, Aristotle's seven elements of storytelling, in particular the first five.
Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher who offered ideas on many topics, including public speaking which he split into three key elements which form the basis of all acts of persuasion. He also split storytelling into seven key elements that formed the basis of all Greek tragedies and are still the basis of storytelling today.
The Seven Elements of Storytelling
When we look at storytelling in design, specifically UX design, Aristotle’s seven elements still guide the elements we need to consider and apply to our designs.
As I looked online for some more information on this topic I found this article: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/aristotle-on-storytelling-in-user-experience (Last Accessed 24/04/24)
This article looks at Aristotle’s elements and how they are adapted to help us tell stories in modern UX design.
We start with the plot, the basis of any story often split into a beginning, a middle and an end the plot is the underlying structure of all stories. In UX design the plot is defined early in the design process and provides the direction for the whole project. We define the plot through our research by identifying the user problem we are trying to solve. This user problem often distilled into a problem statement is our guide and provides the direction for the whole project.
With a plot in place, we move on to character, in other forms of stories, there are multiple characters from leading characters such as James Bond or Harry Potter, through supporting cast members like Moneypenny or Hagrid. In UX our characters are our target audience the people who will use our design, and who we are designing for. Other aspects also can be considered as character such as the branding we use in our design, which shows people what we value and is our face to potential users.
Next, we have theme, this is where we look to make our design or brand stand out, to offer something different to what is already available, whether that be in our design, product or brand values. We need to develop a design that makes us stand apart from others but still offers the reassurance users need to trust us as a brand. This can be challenging as often we might be designing using the same plot and characters as others, how can we differentiate ourselves? By offering something unique, it may not be new it may be old ideas repackaged in a different way that changes how people see or use the design. I personally sometimes find this part of telling the story of my design a challenge as in university we all work off the same brief and have the same requirements, so crafting a unique story can be difficult and takes a lot of ideation and iteration of designs.
Diction, the next element is all about how we talk through our design, the choice of a tone of voice for a project being the key diction point in a UX design. Our tone of voice can range from highly informal to formal, I find for most of my projects I am trying to walk the tightrope of being formal enough to build trust with users but also informal enough to appear friendly and be easily understood. It can be a challenging task, but a clear target audience can help as you know who you are speaking to and this makes deciding how to talk an easier task.