Experiences happen in a sequence that mimics dramatic structure familiar in storytelling. A person’s experience when sending an email starts by navigating to Gmail using a web browser. Next, they create a new email and enter address information. They then write a subject and the body of the message. The activity concludes when the sender clicks “send” and closes Gmail. Using Gmail is a pretty straightforward process.
However, not all Gmail experiences are the same. If a person is writing a breakup email to a boyfriend, or if they are using assistive devices because they are blind, the Gmail user experience will be very different—the story will include different twists and turns. Stories are seldom the same for all people in all experience design scenes. When designers embrace their role in interpreting and designing stories, they can facilitate usage scenarios in ways that match actors’ goals.
All storytelling aspects are specific to a moment when a person uses a design outcome. These aspects center on the use scenario, itself—the act of completing a goal by doing an activity. Use these aspects when examining ways people use design.
Select any of the aspects to learn its role in experience design scenes at the experience level.
Peoples' worldviews and self-concepts shape the ways they make meaning in different situations.
The bank of words and gestures a person knows and uses.
People during goal-directed activities.
Concentration on the activity at hand.
A way of thinking or feeling about an activity or design object.
What a person believes others will think of them when they perform a behavior.
Competence or skill to complete an activity.
References and sources that support the inclusion of this Aspects of Experiences for Design component.
Hall, E. (2018). Thinking in Triplicate. Retrieved March 3, 2020 from https://medium.com/mule-design/a-three-part-plan-to-save-the-world-98653a20a12f
Kalbach, J. (2016). Mapping experiences: a guide to creating value through journeys, blueprints, and diagrams. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media.
Norman, D. A. (2013). The Design of Everyday Things (Revised and expanded edition ed.). New York: Basic Books.