reading response #5

Directed Storytelling: Interpreting Experience for Design by Shelley Evenson

Ethnographic research through directed storytelling seems like where I'd like to go with my research. I am developing a survey to figure out what issues I should deal with in my game, now titled Work It Out! This article gave me some clues as to how to ask my questions in the survey. 

1. Describe your partner in a short paragraph. What are some positive and negative aspects of their personality/characteristics? How is your relationship with this person doing at this current point in time (if you have a hard time describing it, use a 1 to 10 scale, 1o being amazing and 1 being terrible)? 

2. When was the last time you and your partner argued? What was it about? Did you talk rationally or yell and/or fight? Was this a usual fight for you and your partner to have? 

3. Where were you when you had this argument? Do you feel your location effected the argument, i.e. made it worse or helped calm it down? 

4. Were you physically with your partner at the time of the argument or was it over some kind of technological device like the internet, phone, or cell phone? Do you think this effected the argument?

5. Think about the argument you had. Restate what it was about. Then really think about the cause behind the argument. What set it off? Is there some reason you continue to have this argument, or is this the first time you've had it? 

6. Name some things that both you and your partner need to work on in your relationship. Then name some things both you and your partner do well in your relationship. Do you feel the positives outweigh the negatives?

7. Describe a time you and your partner solved an argument positively using a discussion method rather than a fighting method. What do you think made this discussion successful? Was this an argument that you had before, or something new? Judge whether or not you have resolved the issue; have you had another incident based around this argument since this positive discussion?

8. What do you think makes your relationship with your partner strong? What are some things that weaken it? What do you think makes a relationship strong in general? Do you have these qualities in your relationship?

9. Name the top 5 things you and your partner argue about. Rate their intensity and importance on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being very important/high intensity argument and 1 being not important at all/zero intensity.

10. If there was one thing that you would want to say about your relationship that you haven't already, please let me know for the best possible guide to solving your relationship issues.

These could get edited, but it'd be cool if there's one you see that you want to answer and you comment!

Now, onto more about the reading...

I like how Evenson describes when to use direct storytelling; it seems perfect for my project. I am making diagrams, and direct storytelling seems to lend itself to that. 

This is a diagram from the article that I thought was really lovely. Although mine won't be in this style, I thought it was a nice illustration on the kinds of information graphics you can make out of the data collected from direct storytelling.

I find it interesting that direct storytelling can be used for a variety of purposes, not just for graphic design purposes but for marketing and demographics as well. This diagram breaks down the steps to really broadening your consumer base and ultimately marketing a successful product or idea. The blog I got this from, The Innovator's Sweet Spot, goes on to explain each step and talks about using direct storytelling as a method of marketing research.