A big part of what we do at EchoUser is tell stories. Whether we're designing an interface from scratch, putting a new product in front of real-life users, or researching the needs of a client's customers, we have to figure out how to make all the pieces of quantitative and qualitative feedback come together into one coherent narrative. When I'm analyzing results and looking through quotes from interviews and usability sessions, I'm looking for the bits that best tell the overall story of how people reacted to the ideas, products, or services they saw.
There are plenty of places I turn for examples of great storytelling, from magazines to movies to TV shows. But podcasts are one of my favorite sources of inspiration. We're generally visual people here — we tweak interfaces or present our findings with graphics and slides — and so I'm impressed by those who tell compelling stories with only words and sounds. Some of my go-tos:
This American Life — Now it's a classic example of radio storytelling, but back when I first encountered the show, I remember thinking I'd never heard anything quite like its mix of journalism, personal history, and humor.
Radiolab — To say Radiolab is "about science" under-states the weird, wonderful world it exposes. To be honest, for the longest time, I thought the "lab" part just referred to the way the show plays with sounds and textures; I felt kind of silly when I finally figured out the scientific connection.
99% Invisible — Short stories (most are under 20 minutes) about design and architecture, from what goes into making a stamp design to why we can't steer a car with our eyes closed.
The Memory Palace — It's about history, I suppose, but it's really just a great selection of bite-sized tidbits about the curious characters that left their mark on society in various eras. I like to queue a bunch of these up at once for a little Memory Palace binge.
Where do you turn to hear great stories?
