The document discusses the importance and power of storytelling in user experience (UX) design. It provides examples of how stories can be used to explain current problems or research findings, persuade stakeholders of a desired future state, and align teams around a shared understanding of the work. The key lessons are that stories matter in how we communicate our work, and crafting stories with clear elements like characters, conflicts and resolutions tailored to the intended purpose (explain, persuade, align) can help set teams up for success.

1. Storytelling as a
UX superpower
Dani Nordin
Director UX, athenahealth

2. Who is
this bish?
Dani Nordin
Director of UX, Orders Zones at athenahealth
Part-time Lecturer, Northeastern University CPS
Author, Drupal for Designers (2012, O’Reilly),
Designing with Empathy (2015, O’Reilly)
Mama, knitter, troublemaker.
I drink coffee and I know things.
danigrrl
daninordin.com
Linkedin.com/in/daninordin

3. Design since 1995ish.
Writing since 1991.

4. My first published piece
in 1992

5. Stories
Matter.

6. Craft is not enough.

7. 10% of our work is
the actual ideas and
the things we make.
The other 90% is
getting people to
agree with your ideas.
Dr. Sarah Drummond

8. Typically, we focus
on storytelling as
design scenarios
A 20-year old woman goes to see
her OB for recurring pelvic pain due
to endometriosis.
The doctor looks at the patient’s
history and notices that multiple
treatments, such as hormone
therapy and pain medication,
haven’t worked.
She decides to refer the patient to a
surgeon for a consultation.

9. But stories are all
around us.

10. Stories live in the:
v business cases we build for our work
v metrics we choose to measure success
v data we use to guide our decisionmaking
v way we talk about our work with colleagues

11. How do we tell
the story of
what we’re
trying to do?

12. Stories in UX come in three flavors:
PURPOSE
GOALS
EXAMPLES
Explain
Describe “what is” to
set the stage
Usability issues & bugs
Research findings
Existing state blueprints
Persuade
Contrast current with
desired state to get buy-in
and inspire action
Vision decks
Storyboards
Case studies
Align
Reframe and document
shared expectations
among the team
Experience briefs
Design scenarios
Design documentation

13. The elements, tone, and
altitude with which you build
the story are defined by the
story’s purpose.

14. Story Elements
Who is doing the thing
Character Conflict
What happens to cause
friction or character pain.
What happens to resolve the conflict.
Resolution
What is being done
Situation
How the character is changed by the
resolution (or the conflict)
Impact

15. A 20-year old woman goes to see her OB for
recurring pelvic pain due to endometriosis.
The doctor looks at the patient’s history and
notices that multiple treatments, such as
hormone therapy and pain medication,
haven’t worked.
She decides to refer the patient to a surgeon
for a consultation.
Character
Situation
Conflict
Resolution
SCENARIO

16. A 20-year old woman goes to
see her OB for recurring pelvic
pain due to endometriosis.
The doctor looks at the
patient’s history and notices
that multiple treatments, such
as hormone therapy and pain
medication, haven’t worked.
She decides to refer the
patient to a surgeon for a
consultation.
Character
Situation
Conflict
Resolution
PART ONE
At the surgeon’s office, the
scheduler receives a referral
from a new patient.
She knows that the specialist
is going to require a set of lab
tests before she sees the
patient, and results from those
tests aren’t with the referral.
She calls the referring doctor’s
office to ask about test results,
and requests a copy of them.
Character
Situation
Conflict
Resolution
PART 2
The stories we design for may contain
multiple stages and characters

17. Surgical ordering is complex and lacks
accelerators - resulting in paper-based
workflows.
The surgery order is a catalyst for several different activities across both
care settings, all of which have their own distinct documents, tasks and
orders which belong in the relevant care setting. Proceduralists are
comfortable and fast using paper sheets, and hospitals may require
specific formats which can not be accommodated within the EHR.
Navigating this complexity often results in surgical orders being placed
on paper, which are then delegated to support staff to set up across the
relevant care settings.
Conflict
Impact
Situation
Resolution
Impact
Elements may move around based on
the nature of the story
RESEARCH INSIGHT

18. The tone in which we
tell it may vary based
on context Sympathetic
Pragmatic

19. The tone in which we
tell it may vary based
on context
Visionary
Urgent
Proud
Sympathetic

20. The tone in which we
tell it may vary based
on context
Optimistic
Sympathetic
Pragmatic

21. 5 ft: deep into the details
5,000 ft: individual workflows
10,000 ft: focused themes across a single problem space
30,000 ft: broad overview of a complete problem space

22. 5 ft: deep into the details
5,000 ft: individual workflows
10,000 ft: focused themes across a single problem space
30,000 ft: broad overview of a complete problem space

23. 5 ft: deep into the details
5,000 ft: individual workflows
10,000 ft: focused themes across a single problem space
30,000 ft: broad overview of a complete problem space

24. PROBLEM STATEMENT
The operative report is key information referenced by the
clinicians during the Post-Op follow up visit. This information is
captured in the acute EHR and pulled into athenaOne so
providers in the clinic setting can get a complete picture of what
happened to the patient outside the clinic.
Today, when Proceduralists are preparing for a patient post-op
follow up visit, they need to click into each of several operative
reports in order to find the one they need, due to a lack of
descriptive information on the report’s listing in the patient
chart. This results in frustration and delays.
We believe that by making the name of the procedure
performed easily discoverable within common athenaClinicals
workflows, clinicians can more easily find the right operative
note and make informed decisions for their patients.
Character
Situation
Conflict
Impact
Resolution
Impact
5,000 ft

25. BUSINESS RATIONALE
The current Inbox provides insufficient information for verifying patient
identities, identifying the nature and status of each task, and prioritizing
and executing workflows efficiently. As a result, it does not adequately
empower clients to complete the multi-step, multi-person workflows that
are critical to their business.
The first step in addressing this problem must be to enable users to see
and make sense of the relevant information for each task, so that they
can understand what they’re looking at. This is sine qua non for any
viable task management system. This first iteration will:
• Enable clients to spend less time opening documents, and more time
working documents, thus increasing productivity / efficiency
• Deliver a visually and technologically modern Inbox solution that’s
more scalable, flexible, and performant
Once we’ve completed this first step, additional capabilities (e.g.
enhanced sorting, filtering, batch actions, etc.) will provide even more
meaningful value.
Character
Situation
Conflict
Resolution
Impact
10,000 ft

26. SUCCESS METRICS
5000 ft
For more info, see the HEART Framework: https://www.dtelepathy.com/ux-metrics/
Objective: Team members can easily tell when more
work needs to be done without having to "check" the
work multiple times to understand what the next
action is.
Signal: Tasks are opened fewer times before being
moved to the next stage, particularly on multi-touch
tasks like surgeries and referrals
Metrics: Touches to Completion (decrease); Task
Completion Rate (unchanged or increased)
Character
Resolution
Impact
Situation

27. Principles
Storytelling

28. 1
Know what kind of
story you’re telling

29. Don’t drown
people in data
2

30. H
1
Hydrogen
1.008
U
92
Uranium
238.03
Mn
25
Manganese
54.938
Be
4
Beryllium
9.0122
In
49
Indium
114.82
Lead with
the human
element
3

31. Have a clear
point of view
4

32. Key Takeaways
v Stories matter
v Stories live in all the ways we talk about our work
v Being thoughtful about how we structure and tell
our stories can set us up for success

33. The problem is this: no spreadsheet, no bibliography, and no
list of resources is sufficient proof to someone who chooses
not to believe. The skeptic will always find a reason, even if
it’s one the rest of us don’t think is a good one. Relying too
much on proof distracts you from the real mission – which
is emotional connection.
Seth Godin

34. Thank you!
Dani Nordin
Director UX, athenahealth

35. Storytelling resources
Storytelling for User Experience:
Crafting Stories for Better Design
By Whitney Quesenbery and
Kevin Brooks
• Scenarios and Storyboards: Getting
to Structure and Flow, Kim
Goodwin, Webstock ‘17
• Ethos, Pathos and Logos,
pathosethoslogos.com
• Kurt Vonnegut Diagrams the Shape
of Stories in a Master’s Thesis
Rejected by U. Chicago,
openculture.org
• The 22 rules of storytelling,
according to Pixar, Cyriaque Lamar,
Gizmodo
Resonate: Present Visual Stories
that Transform Audiences
By Nancy Duarte

36. Appendix

37. Basic patterns
Explain Persuade Align
ELEMENTS Character/Situation >
Conflict > Impact
Character/Situation >
Conflict > Impact >
Resolution > Impact
Character/Situation >
Conflict > Impact >
Resolution > Impact
TONE Pragmatic, Sympathetic Visionary, Urgent,
Sympathetic, Proud
Pragmatic, Optimistic,
Sympathetic
ALTITUDE 5ft - 10k feet 5k-30k feet 5ft-10k feet

39. The wind was blowing very hard as Pooh neared Piglet’s house.
“Happy Windsday, Piglet. I see you’re sweeping leaves.”
“Yes, Pooh. But it’s hard. This is a very unfriendly wind.”
Just then, a big gust blew Piglet up into the air. Pooh watched
in surprise. “Where are you going, Piglet?”
“I don’t know, Pooh. Oh dear!” Pooh tried to help, but when he
grabbed Piglet’s sweater, it began to unravel!
Piglet flew like a kite over the countryside, with Pooh dragging
behind. The two went right through Eeyore’s house and
Rabbit’s carrot patch.
Character
Situation
Conflict
Impact
Resolution

41. Explain
Stories that

42. Characteristics
Elements Attitude Altitude
Usability issues
and Bugs
Situation > Conflict >
proposed resolution
Straightforward, descriptive 5-5k feet, with clear PoV on
potential resolution
Research
Findings
Situation > Conflict > Impact Pragmatic,
with a clear PoV
5k-10k feet, depending on
nature of research
Service
Blueprints
Situation > Conflict > Impact
> User-created resolution (i.e.
workarounds)
Straightforward,
with a clear PoV
10k-30k feet, with ability to
drill down to lower levels
The goal of an Explain story is to help the audience
understand the current state of things and why it is so.
This provides a frame of reference for future
conversations and aids decisionmaking.

43. Surgical ordering is complex and lacks
accelerators - resulting in paper-based
workflows.
The surgery order is a catalyst for several different activities
across both care settings, all of which have their own distinct
documents, tasks and orders which belong in the relevant care
setting. Proceduralists are comfortable and fast using paper
sheets, and hospitals may require specific formats which can
not be accommodated within the EHR.
Navigating this complexity often results in surgical orders being
placed on paper, which are then delegated to support staff to
set up across the relevant care settings.
Situation
Conflict
Impact
Resolution
Impact
RESEARCH FINDING
5,000 ft

44. ETHOS
LOGOSPATHOS
Emotional Appeal
Ethical Appeal
Logical Appeal
Source: Aristotle

45. Pitfalls to avoid
• Depending too much on
statistics/analytics
• Getting too deep
into the weeds when
a higher altitude is needed

46. Persuade
Stories that

47. Characteristics
Elements Attitude Altitude
UX Case Studies Resolution > Impact >
Situation > Conflict
Straightforward, descriptive 5k-10k feet, with clear
statement of impact
Storyboards Situation > Conflict >
Resolution > Impact
Pragmatic, descriptive 5k-10k feet, depending on
nature of resolution
Vision Decks Situation > Conflict > Impact
> Resolution > Impact
Inspirational, motivating 10k-30k feet, focused on
positive future state and
rationale for action
The goal of a Persuade story is to inspire the audience to
act towards creating a better future. Its power lies in
making a clear contrast between the current state and a
better future and showing the role they play in creating it.

48. UX CASE STUDY: Unpacking DNFB for Small Hospital Clients
I engaged in a comprehensive discovery process to uncover the core
problems our clients faced in reducing time in DNFB (Discharged, Not Final
Billed). Through research, discussions, and workshops, we aligned the teams
on 5 "Hills" that corresponded to the most significant problem areas. The
artifacts resulting from this process informed our strategy and planning
discussions throughout the next several releases.
Why
The Claim Readiness zone in athenaCollector focuses on helping revenue
cycle clients do the work required—Coding, Charge Entry and Chart
Processing/Review—to get claims out the door efficiently. In the Hospital
space, part of our charter was to reduce the length of time between patient
discharge and a claim being created—also known as DNFB.
The factors that go into DNFB are complex and span multiple systems, both
human and software. Our product teams needed to understand which of
those factors we could make the most impact on.
Situation
Conflict
Resolution
Impact
30,000 ft

49. WHAT IS WHAT IS WHAT IS WHAT IS
WHAT COULD BE WHAT COULD BE WHAT COULD BE REWARD!
The gap
Call to
Adventure
Call to
Action
Source: Nancy Duarte, Resonate

50. When you tell the story about the design
of the future experience, the stories are
what shape the narrative in the
organization. If you can tell a convincing
enough story about what the experience
should be like, you're going to change
minds along the way."
Kim Goodwin

51. Pitfalls to avoid
• Focusing in on problems
without a clear PoV on
potential resolutions
• Failing to discuss the impact
of the resolution, or the
desired action you want the
audience to take

52. Align
Stories that

53. Characteristics
Elements Attitude Altitude
Problem
statements
Situation > Conflict >
proposed resolution
Pragmatic, collaborative 5k-10k feet, with clear PoV
on potential resolution
Design scenarios Situation > Conflict >
proposed resolution
Pragmatic 5k-10k feet, focused on
capturing main moments
Design
documentation
Situation > Conflict >
proposed resolution > Impact
Pragmatic,
with a clear PoV
5-5k feet, focused on
highlighting “new”
elements/interactions
The goal of an Align story is to capture the mutual
understanding of current state, desired state, and next
steps across a team. This provides a reference for
discussions around the work and intended solution.

54. Pitfalls to avoid
• Not involving teammates
from the beginning
• Not revisiting/revising
the story as the work
progresses and new
things are learned

55. User experience includes a wide variety of
disciplines, each with its own perspective.
Stories bridge the many different
languages you bring to your work. By
providing tangible examples, stories can
provide a common vocabulary for everyone.
Whitney Quesenbery & Kevin Brooks