We all like to read stories and as you read, tell and listen to stories everyday it may be your way of connecting and experiences things. The effect of stories on human has been well- researched and backed by psychological experiments. The study indicates that people’s memory is better when all facts are put together in a story rather than presented independently.
The same applies to user experience stories. They focus on the audience’s imagination focusing on a common goal. A User Experience(UX) story define the events happening in your app from the users perspective. It tells you how your product will work once it is created. UX stories are important as it summarizes the whole experience for the user.
Why are UX Stories important?
They summarize the whole experience
They are created to help users understand the whole process in simple words. UX stories give a brief idea about how your app will work.
Helps You Explain Topics that You Can’t Detail Directly
Usually, it’s not that easy to detail certain topics properly. However, UX stories help users better connect with what you’re saying and understand your point.
UX Stories Better Persuade Your Audience
It narrates the product from a user’s perspective.Hence, the user can connect with what you are saying and its easier to persuade them into your app’s purpose.
Components of a UX Story
- User
The most important part of a story is the user.. If there is no user – there will be no UX story.
- User’s Goal and Motivation
The next important component is the user’s goals and their motivation. It is difficult to create a user story without the goal and motivation.
- Context
A context is the occurrence of a story to the user. It makes it easier for the user to understand the story the user’s assume themselves in the real life situation.
- Insight
Insight is that part of a UX story in which you pour your experience and wisdom to communicate with your audience and make them understand the purpose of your story.
- Visual Portion
The visual element of an app increases it value by 10 times which helps users connect better. Visual elements include images, animations and videos.
How to Write a Good UX Story
Keep the following points in mind:
User should be the center of your story. It is important as you want the user to connect to your story. Make sure you use experience they face in their daily life to expect a positive reaction from them.
Share Unique Experiences: Narrate unique experiences that tell about things that happen around them but they have not noticed. That will make your UX story stand out and users will be tempted to read it.
.Keep Your UX Story Simple and Interactive: Users admire stories that are simple and intuitive and can be understood the first time.
Put emphasis on details: Keeping UX story simple and intuitive at the same time focus on details.
Keep the Engagement Alive Until the End: Most users will not go through till the end if they do not understand it. Keep the users engaged and alive till the end. You can teach them something new and narrate an experience they have never had before.
Lastly, the story should be understood by all users – from Young Children to Old People. That’s the secret behind a successful UX story that it is understandable by all types of users- kids, teenagers, middle-aged people and senior citizens.
Incorporate all the above point to your user stories and they will be great.
Difference between User Stories, Scenarios, User cases, and storyboards
There are multiple ways of storytelling like UX stories, Scenarios, Use Cases and Storyboards. Although, they are all different and the basic difference between all of them is:
User Stories
User stories are from the end user’s perspective and have a simple structure. They are used in Agile development to scope the features. They are not made up and reflect what the users have to do.
Scenarios
A scenario is a situation that captures how users perform tasks on your site or app. Scenarios describe the user’s motivations and questions that need to be answered suggesting possible ways to accomplish them.
Use Cases
User cases are the situations that a user may face while using an app.
Storyboards
It is a visual representation of how the user would react to your app. There are different types of storyboards: sketches, illustrations and screenshots, slide shows and live demos.
Risks of UX Stories
You need to be careful while creating UX stories. Sometimes while creating UX stories, you may forget whether the product will be able to implement all the features. As a result, the story may convince the users but may the end product may not be upto the mark.
Conclusion
UX stories are the new face of storytelling. It is a natural way of engaging with users and a better way of communicating with your audience.
