Storytelling as a co-creation method with kids
As UX-designers, we are used to requesting feedback in various ways. However, in my experience, co-creation with users (as opposed to requiring feedback on something that is already made) is a method that is often overlooked.
Maybe that’s not so strange; from a practical point of view it may require a lot from the organizers and participants. Luckily, since our target group at Bolibompa is 2–4 year old, it’s safe to say that when kids “work with us” it means unlocking playfulness, and part of our job is to catch up with their creative flow.
I think an important part of my role specifically during research is to embrace when we are going into the unknown (to quote the famous philosopher, Elsa of Arendelle). In my experience, working with kids means to some degree letting go of needing control. What’s more important is to be present, observe behaviors and actively listen to what is being said.
THAT’S GREAT, BUT CAN YOU GIVE US AN EXAMPLE?
One approach that our team have experimented with this year is collaborative storytelling (ttrpg). The structure of the game is pretty standard for a classic table top roleplaying game:
- One Game Master (me) facilitate the story
- We made props such as a map and markers so that the players could see where the story was taking place
- We created NPC characters based from Bolibompa productions that the players could talk with in the story
In the beginning, the players got to draw their own characters and give them names. Once that was done, we were ready to start the game. For about 30 min we co-created a story together where one of the NPC-characters (Blå) needed to be saved from the evil fairy Prutta.
As a game master, my role is to ask questions such as:
“What do you want to do now?”
“How will you solve this problem together?”
“Can you describe what this place looks like?”
The players are the heroes of the story and it is the GM:s job is to make sure that everyone feels seen, have space to impact the story and feel epic in their decisions. And of course, always have “fun together” as the highest priority 🥰
WHAT DID WE LEARN FORM THIS APPROACH?
I think storytelling games can be a nice way to do user research. It is an effective way for us to learn about their humor, problem solving skills and social skills, to name a few aspects. By participating with the kids in play we can form a better understanding of what they want to do in our Bolibompa world and create games in the app that is directly inspired by their ideas. From a practical point of view, sitting in a room in front of a table and telling stories “camp-fire style” with some fun props allows us to have a controlled environment around the test as well, it’s easy for the rest of the team to observe the game via a stream and hear the conversations (as oppose to going to the playground for example).
Lastly, I think it is worth noting that yes — this is a highly engaged approach to research and maybe not as convenient as a survey or user testing of a prototype. But I highly encourage you to try it out — I‘m sure you will be surprised to what you learn about your target audience.
Do you want to know more? Say hello!
//Elisabet Johansson, UX @ Bolibompa Appen
(https://www.instagram.com/the.ux.notebook/)
