Behind the Story
summary
Argues that story is detectable as a change in emotional energy and that treating research as narrative reveals motivations and moments that analytics miss. Uses storytelling tools — character place plot, Vonnegut’s story shapes, and a Jobs‑to‑be‑Done style narrative interview — to run hour‑long user interviews. Applied the method to Talk London in a week‑long project, surfaced why contributors keep posting (hopes of impact), and prototypes an “impact” display to restore trust and improve stakeholder empathy.
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chapters (11)
- 0:00Introduction and conference context
- 3:19Personal anecdote about travel mishaps
- 9:11What defines a story
- 15:17Storytelling and human evolution
- 21:27Story structures and narrative shapes
- 25:52Design research and storytelling
- 35:19Case study: Talk London platform
- 39:15Storytelling in data visualization
- 41:47Brand stories and long-term experiences
- 45:18Stories as a human connection tool
- 47:05Conclusion and call to action
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