As designers and researchers in the digital environment we are constantly being asked to consider data in our design work. Our key question has become: How do we successfully incorporate the right data in the right ways so that users are empowered to make smarter and more insightful decisions, while not being overwhelmed by additional information or material?

I have worked on several projects that have incorporated work streams of both data and design. I wish to highlight two methodologies that I helped create within our studio:

Customer segmentation data + design research
Fjord DC Studio’s data storytelling process and templates

Customer Segmentation Data + Design Research

Role: Experience Designer & Researcher
Other Team Members: Service Designer Lead, Business Design Lead, Visual Designer

Our team was asked to conduct a multidisciplinary research project for a large national shipping service to derive insights from a customer segmentation, market research, and user and stakeholder interviews. Rather that run the research streams separately our research became woven - and at points in which our research interlaced the data, market, and user findings created opportunities for conversation between the separate project channels that became points to pivot or iterate. I wrote and illustrated the initial DNA approach to our process, which was developed and improved by my team. A sample overview of process is below:

Data Storytelling

Role: Experience/ Interaction Designer
Other Team Members: Service Designer, Data Designers (2x), Development Team, Visual Designer.

As part of a client pitch the design team was asked to incorporate open-source client data in a meaningful way. Online research revealed that our client’s department had mixed public perceptions ranging from good to very bad. We decided to combine the narrative strength of storytelling with the insightful nature of data to construct a public facing data-story that would illuminate the true nature of our client’s department.

First, to explain the process and benefits of combining data and storytelling to our clients I researched, wrote, and illustrated the following slides:

When we present the brain with statistics and data we activate the Boca's and Wernicke’s areas – areas of the brain responsible for processing language. We understand what we are being told of the statistics, and we can logically organize the information but we do not gauge our whole brain as we cannot “feel” statistics.

Stories engage the whole brain as they challenge us to process the information from an emotional dimension as well. Stories draw a personal connection between the user and the tale, they are impactful, and they are memorable. Overall stories are meaningful.

Why is is important that stories are meaningful? We understand now that many decisions (even complex decisions) are made on an emotional basis and then rationalized afterwards. We go with our “gut” or instinct. This is why statistics or poorly design dashboards fail us - we can’t make good decisions with them.

In a recent study – a group of students was asked to give presentations about an idea they had to their class. On average 2.5 statistics were used per presentation, but only 1 in 10 told stories. However in the end, only 5% of the class could recall a statistic, but 63% of the class could recall the stories. Source: Made to stick, Chip Heath, Stanford University

Storytelling with data is NOT the same a writing a novel. The clear differences are that: 1. The storytelling requires the infusion of a more scientific process; there must be tangible assumptions and a hypothesis within the story. 2. The visualizations and narrative work together as dynamic forms of persuasion. Storytelling with data is not just to relay information like a news bulletin, it must be directed and to accomplish a goal. 3. The user is in control - they are capable of driving their own story through the interactions with the filters and touch-points.

Storytelling with data is a dynamic communication: data, affected by users, flows into models and analytics. The experience, crafted for the users, drives the narrative. The models and analytics become the backbone for the visualizations; and the visualizations merged with the narrative become the story. Collaborations throughout the process between designers, data scientists, and developers is imperative for well crafted data stories. The circles flow into each other because each level is is reactive to influences of another level as a living process.

I worked closely with the service designer to create the following template. It is based off of a classic narrative arch structure, but we realized that data needed to be arranged as a series of revealing insights that build on one another, rather than as a narrative flow.

Then we researched and constructed a process and series of templates to brainstorm and build data stories with our client. We held a workshop with our client and co-created data stories with them.

At the workshop we also presented high fidelity data stories and visualizations that we built with the data designer and development team. You can interact with the designs here.

Finally, the service designer and I worked to turn this work into a teachable methodology. We presented the process and templates in a workshop we gave at the 2017 Fjord global learning summit (called Fjord Equinox) and empowered other Fjordians to become data-storytellers.