“When you choose the perspective for a story, you are choosing a subset of all the experiential possibilities. The perspective (or perspectives) you choose limits what the people in the story see and experience.”
Within design, storytelling helps designers paint a clear picture of our product, the people using their products and the reasons why their product can provide solutions. Perspective encompasses the details and structure in which a designer presents the narrative of a design project or product. Designers use multiple perspectives to illustrate problems, solutions and clear end-goals for the user. Perspectives can also vary depending on the intended audience, what aspect of the design a designer wants to highlight, and what emotions or reactions a designer wants to evoke in their audience. As a designer, it is important for me to establish a perspective that clearly illustrates an order of events to my intended audience, along with being intentional in how I want to make them feel. Overall, it is important for me to focus on what story I want to tell and what perspective will help me make my point.
“The hero Returns to the Ordinary World, but the journey is meaningless unless she brings back some Elixir, treasure, or lesson from the Special World. The Elixir is a magic potion with the power to heal. It may be a great treasure like the Grail that magically heals the wounded land, or it simply might be knowledge or experience that could be useful to the community someday.”
This quote is about the hero’s return. I like the idea of the hero going through a great deal of hardships to learn something new or to prove something to themselves. Relating this idea to real life, I believe it can be easy for people to forget to apply the lessons that they’ve learned to their pursuit of a better life. It is also important to demonstrate the hero’s evolution throughout the story to complete it. A fulfilling story involves personal growth, development, and transformation. As designers, we must use the Elixir/treasure as a narrative tool to convey a user’s growth.
“In a user experience story, you might use a character’s dictio to show how an early objection can be overcome by a better experience or changing conditions.”
This is an interesting quote because it introduces the idea of cognitive dissonance in what people say and do when using a digital product. The term “dictio” refers to what a character explicitly says, when in reality it’s the opposite of what they end up doing. In fact, usability testing usually uncovers a person’s dictio, revealing the tension between what they say and what they do. Within the design process, a character’s dictio (the way they express themselves and their views) can be used to show how their initial objection can be resolved or transformed through the user experience. If a digital product addresses a user’s concerns or provides a better experience, that user may become more enthusiastic or optimistic rather than reserved and skeptical. The user’s dictio could also change due to any external circumstances that have changed, such as the user’s environment, social circle, or new information that alters their views. A user’s dictio can serve as a powerful narrative tool when illustrating how initial objections and challenges can be solved through better user experiences within digital products. I believe that this is a strong way for me to craft a narrative arc for a user within my stories.
