What stories inform us about the users?

Abstract

Storytelling has been used to elicit subconscious schemas that were formed from user experiences. Subjects were required to construct a working model using external and internal sources of information. Known methods of performing narrative analysis included Projective Tests, Narrative Analysis, and Cognitive Tasks Analysis. Three studies using storytelling methods were done with these methods. One with older adults, two with kins of older adults, and three with refinery operators. In the case of older adults, users were asked to make up stories for a fictitious person to extract cultural norms and knowledge. For the refinery study, we can look into real stories for more reliable data. Many types of design information were extracted: (1) emotional and functional needs, (2) functional dependencies, and (3) expertise. Arguably, these information will be hard to come by if a direct interview technique is conducted. Reasons due to the richness of information embedded in stories. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.