Amey Mohite
Remember that food ordering app that sends you a notification when you're hungry? You're probably wondering how the app knows about your hunger.
These are some common steps you follow. The story begins when you open the app and look at the delicious pictures of dishes. You start searching for that perfect dish you didn't even know you were craving for 'the plot of that story.’ Then you add it to your cart 'the climax.' You find yourself on the payment page, you make the payment, and that's it you ordered a delicious meal for yourself 'the end.
This journey from notification to having your food delivered to your door is what UX design encourages you to do.
Because stories can be lengthy and time-consuming, visual storytelling provides a quick way to connect with users and audiences. Visual storytelling and its ability to transform your designs into something relatable and stand out is the primary component of your designs; accomplishing this is the subject of this blog.
UX Design
Let's go back to that food ordering app to better understand what UX design is. The images, notifications, buttons used to add dishes to your cart, the payment page, and the final order success dialogue. From selecting the perfect dish to tracking it until it arrives at your door, this entire process is made easy with UX design. These designs help the user to make the desired choice.
In a nutshell, UX design is a subset of User Experience (UX) that considers every aspect of the experience, how it makes the user feel, and how easy it is to accomplish the task at hand. It could be anything from how a physical product feels in your hand to how simple the online checkout process is. The goal of UX design is to create an intuitive, efficient, relevant, and all-around simple user experience.
Visual Storytelling
Visual storytelling engages the audience in a long emotional experience. In simple terms: telling a story through images, illustrations, photos, graphics, or video to make an impression on the audience's mind is what visual storytelling is all about. These visual mediums create an atmosphere where the audience feels like they are a part of the story and have a distinct role. It is the role that users expect mobile applications and websites to play. Here, UX design comes into the picture — converting this experience into narratives and stories.
Visual Storytelling in UX Design
"People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way around." By Terry Pratchett, a Fantasy author
Visual storytelling in UX design is all about guiding users through an application or website most seamlessly and straightforwardly possible. This can range from encouraging the user to click on a call-to-action button to having a positive decision-making process. While good stories are always widely praised, storytelling in UX Design ensures that all work is focused on the users' needs and the value you want to provide those users.
After understanding the user's needs and desires, designers create a narrative about the user, what they require, and how the design will meet those needs. The design narrative makes it simple to involve the user by stating that this is your (user) story. The designer will know which story to narrate for this user to provide the exact experience the user seeks. This also fosters empathy for the user, and weaving a story throughout the designs enables the design effectively.
When to use visual storytelling in UX Design?
Visual storytelling comes into play when a user is faced with a decision; design emerges when the user subconsciously considers: Do I need this product? Is it necessary for me to continue reading? Is it appropriate for me to click on this button? Do I wish to provide this company with my personal information? Am I truly interested? This chain of thought is what a design must capture. Providing a visual narrative reassures the user to take the next step in these situations.
Points to remember while implementing UX Design with Storytelling
Creating an engaging visual narrative for the user
The right balance between being professional and approachable in your design is essential. The design language must also adhere to the company design language to maintain consistency.
Choosing the best stories
Is your story good enough to capture what the user wants? The story through the interface is not like a story you read. Design a story that the user not only "reads" but gets involved in it. Good design helps to read, remember and enjoy the story.
Keeping it simple and interactive
Instead of complex stories that are difficult to grasp and understand, users will find it much easier to engage with and enjoy an interactive narrative. As a result, the primary goal is to have a simple but interactive storyline.
Establishing trust through the use of a story (Design to trust)
Netflix's B2C model is an example of trust-building. The user's trust in this application is so strong that they begin watching any content available on it blindly. The touchpoints and narrative it creates for its users through its designs and call-to-action buttons influence them to surrender and binge-watch anything.
Your narrative should incorporate confidence in the product, causing the user to want to place their faith in the product simply by looking at it. Building trust is one of the most important objectives of any UX design.
Including touchpoints throughout your narrative (plotting your story)
By including touchpoints, the user can interact with the product. Touchpoints are intermediate steps toward achieving a goal. The UX designer's job is to ensure that these steps in the user interface of a product/application are as seamless as possible.
To achieve the end goal (the climax of a story)
Recognize the user's ultimate goal and design accordingly. The primary objective of UX design is to guide the user from their initial needs to the end goal. A successful design is goal-oriented; if the product assists the user in accomplishing that goal, the design is successful.
Design great web and application products by incorporating all of the above. Narrating a story to users and clients and achieving the end goal without a hassle is at the forefront of UX design, and Coditas' designers excel at it.
Conclusion
Storytelling is an excellent method for communicating your ideas and creating engaging designs for users. It can help the user remain engaged with the web page/ application and have an immersive experience, which UX design is all about. Creating impactful designs with a user-friendly interface can attract users to the application/product you design.
Do you want to narrate your story and pursue a career in UX Design?
Apply here: Careers at Coditas
