directed storytelling


directed storytelling is a term defined by Shelly Evenson about the a method used for gathering ethnographic information to inform design decisions. Her feeling is that if designers do not have time to study and research their audience in depth, then the directed storytelling approach is a faster way to gather pertinent information for making intelligent design decisions.

One way to do this is through a directed storytelling session in which there is the storyteller (object of the design activity) the leader (facilitates storytelling) and the documenter. Through the leaders questioning and facilitating, much can be learned about the object, or audience. This leads to again, what we have been learning about all term, which is having a better understanding of the audience/people who the design is intended for to make good decisions about how to go about the designing and the final product.