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Story-storming: The aftermath

Probably the most important aspect to designing a user experience is the ability to come out with creative storylines to enhance that experience. The steps are still pretty much raw but I've finally extracted the essence of the whole experience while collaborating with DELL. So here they are:

Story-storming : The steps
Works best when:
+ Having done the initial user observations
+ Not holding back on far-out ideas during the session, go crazy.
+ Ideas can always be scaled back later on to make the story more convincing.


1 . List out the various situations of the observed context in the order from start to finish.

2. Identify points of insignificance or irritation from within the list.

3. For each point noted, brainstorm ways to make that particular situation interesthing.

4. Rewrite the list again into a story by using the ideas from the brainstorm session.

5. Mix and match the ideas to make the story more interesthing and cohesive.

6. Sketch out the storyboard for visualization.

The steps will be revised from time to time.

Updated 8hrs Later:

I went about googling the term "story storming". Surprisingly, there's only one other related search found other than this blog entry. A book titled

"Digital Storytelling in the Classroom"

By Jason Ohler

has an almost similar method to the steps that I had written. The link to the book preview which is available on Google books is HERE.
In it, Ohler wrote about transformation in a story. I took this as reference to identifying points of irritation or insignificance in the steps I had written. Ohler also wrote that, the stronger the transformation, the stronger is the story.

I believe that this method to unleashing creative ideas is extremely helpful when we're looking for innovative ideas that are extremely context dependent. A further search on YouTube with the term "immersive design" returns searches in relation to set and production design. I think that design opportunities presents itself readily in movies and stories. It's like how many times have you gone " I wished that thing was real.." when you watch sci-fi shows?

I may have digressed abit in the last paragraph, but the point is, using stories to identify design opportunities are extremely powerful and I guess it relates easily to anyone when you have to explain the concept.

This is just one of the uses of stories to unlock creativity in the design area. I believe that this could be applied to almost anyone in any field.

DELL Immersive presentation test run

This is a short video when my partner and I did a test run of the presentation using 3 different laptops and 3 projectors prior to the final thing that was held at the DELL office. The whole idea is to be able to make a presentation that is as immersive as possible.
The concept of the design is a highly interactive environment for a guitarist to choose and select both his guitars and effects pedals. Adding to the experience is how the guitarist can activate and unlock room variables using guitar solos as a password. The user also chooses his guitars by means of hand movements that mimics the strumming of a guitar.

Experience Design process

The final presentation for a collaborative project with Dell finally ended 2 days ago at their office. 5 groups were shortlisted as the finalists and mine was one of them. Our design brief that was given when they came over one semester ago, was : to come up ( which is to design in this case ) and enhance the experience of the user in the chosen context of our choice. To me, what I gained most from this experience was the addition of another design process to add to my arsenal. In a nutshell, the whole process could be summed up into 3 phases:

observe > storyboarding > design

I have to note that in this process, the main emphasis is to come up with a good story. And through that story, design opportunities could be identified. The aim is to generate a wholesome design solution where there are many products and services as the outcome.

I am currently trying to digest and internalize this new process that I've just learned and hopefully able to make it much more comprehensible. And the outcome of this however, will be put up in a follow-up post. The following images are a mini visual diary of what went on during the process.

After having observed the context, storyboarding occurs. During this part of the process, 2 main stories were conceptualized. One story was the result of a 'bad' experience and the other story however tries to counter the 'bad' experience with the "ideal" experience.



Design opportunities were then identified from within the storyboard to create the "ideal' experience for the user.



Role playing were employed to help generate ideas. Apart from that, it also helps to dispel and reinforces certain aspects of the story.





The working mockups added to the fun factor of the process. On its own, it can also offshoot and be develop as a standalone product.






Finally, the concept was presented in such a way that it helps the viewer to immerse in the environment. What was utilized here were 3 projectors and 3 different laptops to help with the simulation.

Tigga 2.0

I forgot how fun it was to use Rhino once again. I switched over to 3dmax during my 2nd year due to its nice default rendering engine. Now that I have Vray installed, its back again to Rhino, and its so much better to do surfacing. I've cleaned up my Tigga design. It's form is still much to be desired. But I'm putting this up because of of it's eye-candy factor. On a side note, I've yet to put up my process sketches. I'm still in the midst of mapping things out. It's wonderful to be in in my 4th year with supportive tutors like Dr. Yen and Carlos. I appreciate all they have done so far and the things they allowed me to do. It'll be less than 124 days till the end of my semester.

I want to hack my bicycle

Design opportunities are aplenty here on this sunny island if one pays close attention. And I think that bicycles does present a lot of it. Just last week after having encountered the Leaf-kite, I saw an interesting add-on to one of the bicycle that was locked at the park there. Its owner had wrapped the center part with a stretchable netting. This then had created compartment that is big enough to put small items in.What I could imagine from this are bicycles with designs that utilizes its central portion fully. It could be a small compartment to put files or books in when commuting within the campus.