Are we all storyteller's?

UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface) design are the epitome of using storytelling in the design process. To design a product for a user, it is of use for the designer to imagine the scenario or context of the product actually in use. A very good tool to use to help us create this story is to refer to Aristotles 7 elements of good storytelling: Dialogue (Emotion in our context) , Plot, Character, Theme, Décor, Melody, and Spectacle.

(Aristotles 7 elements of good storytelling - https://public-media.interaction-design.org/pdf/Aristotles-7-Elements-of-Good-Storytelling.pdf )

Equally, we can reflect to our primary school days of learning about question words and use them instead: What is the product doing? When is the product being used? Where is the product being used? Why is the user using this product? How is the user using it?

I feel that this can help us think about the idea of our design in a more abstract way. Like a writer would decide, what is the morale of the story, a designer needs to think of the true purpose or essence of what we are designing. Such as making a more accessible tool for people of disabilities or re designing an app for public transport. I don’t think there is much point in redesigning a toaster just for the sake of it.

In the debate whether designers are storyltellers, I would agree with designer, Stefan Sagmeister. Stefan has a counter argument, saying the roller coaster designer who says they tell stories through their roller coaster are incorrect, and they are in fact no more than roller coaster designers. However, this is not a bad thing. I just believe that perhaps some designers forget their role. Just because we draw and sketch does not make us artists, just because we consider materials and look at the science of how the product works does not make us engineers, and finally, just because we can tell stories with our product does not mean we are story tellers.

Although I am a firm believer that designers are not storytellers. I think it’s because product designers are creatives. Creatives use all these storytelling skills, and more. This is what makes us product designers. I refer back to the first blog post where i discussed what makes the product designer a product designer. It is their creativity and their ability who sees information from one context and can apply it to another context or project. Storytelling is simply a tool we have taken from writers and use it to suit us.