Emotional Shapes
3-Act Story Spine
What if the wonky donkey walked into my grandpa's restaurant and was served by Walt, inspiring him to doodle wonky donkeys on the tablecloths instead of mice?
Once upon a time there was a teenager named Walt.
Every day, Walt worked as a waiter at Mo’s diner but he spent more time doodling than doing his job.
One day, Walt's mother died..
Because of that, Walt grew depressed and stopped doodling.
Then one day, Walt waited on Wilbur, a Wonkey Donkey.
Because of that, Walt and Wilbur grew close. Because of that, Walts depression began to lift.
Because of that, Wilbur inspired Walt to get into country music.
Because of that, Walt opened for one of Wilbur's shows and got a negative response.
Because of that, Walt decided to do a doodle documentary of Wilbur’s country music tour and got rave reviews for his doodles of Wilbur.
Because of that, Wilbur introduced Walt to his manager, Mickey, who encouraged Walt to further develop the donkey character he doodled.
Because of that, Walt created Donald the donkey and the world loved Donald.
Because of that, Donald became an icon and mascot for Walt’s theme park, Disney Rodeo, families traveled from near and far to visit the rodeo.
Because of that, Walt opened Rodeos around the world until finally Walt, Donald, and Disney Rodeo were known around the world.
And every day after that, Walt built up Disney Rodeo and a growing cast of characters to include Diddly Duck and Melvin Mouse.
Every day, Walt worked as a waiter at Mo’s diner but he spent more time doodling than doing his job.
One day, Walt's mother died..
Because of that, Walt grew depressed and stopped doodling.
Then one day, Walt waited on Wilbur, a Wonkey Donkey.
Because of that, Walt and Wilbur grew close. Because of that, Walts depression began to lift.
Because of that, Wilbur inspired Walt to get into country music.
Because of that, Walt opened for one of Wilbur's shows and got a negative response.
Because of that, Walt decided to do a doodle documentary of Wilbur’s country music tour and got rave reviews for his doodles of Wilbur.
Because of that, Wilbur introduced Walt to his manager, Mickey, who encouraged Walt to further develop the donkey character he doodled.
Because of that, Walt created Donald the donkey and the world loved Donald.
Because of that, Donald became an icon and mascot for Walt’s theme park, Disney Rodeo, families traveled from near and far to visit the rodeo.
Because of that, Walt opened Rodeos around the world until finally Walt, Donald, and Disney Rodeo were known around the world.
And every day after that, Walt built up Disney Rodeo and a growing cast of characters to include Diddly Duck and Melvin Mouse.
Reading Reflection
In “From UserToCharacter,” Lene shares her perspective and makes several arguments as to the importance of developing rounded characters in scenarios, why it is not enough to focus on users’ actions and goals, and why we must gain a solid understanding of the “why” behind it all. I can be overly empathetic, so creating rounded (vs. flat) characters has always come easily. Still, Lena proposed several ideas that I found intriguing, inspiring, and that I believe will be helpful when I write scenarios in the future.
One point Lene makes is that the user must be vivid and described in such a manner that during the reading process, it becomes clear how and why the model-user acts the way he/she does. We must, as writers, be able to empathize with the character. By immersing ourselves in their world, thoughts, and emotions, we can better understand and predict their actions and needs.
Lene suggests taking the rule from scriptwriting to “only describe what can be seen,” forcing the reader to imagine the transformation of visual information in the script and the author fully aware of what lies behind the visual expression. Being highly empathetic, my go-to is the character’s emotions and the “why” behind their behavior, sometimes to the point that I entirely leave out the “what can be seen.” In doing this, I’m restricting the brainstorming and problem-solving that can come from scenarios. If I more of an effort to “describe what can be seen,” I believe my the scenarios I write will have a more significant impact and broader reach throughout the design process
Lene concludes by stating that in describing the user as a rounded character based on research, we can bring the user into the design process, helping the design team remember that the design is for the user. We must conduct research in order to write constructive scenarios. There’s a Masters of Scale podcast I return to again and again that speaks to the importance of user research. Although this is an extreme example, I love how it speaks to the necessity of wholistically understanding your users, which is key for writing scenarios. By starting small and gaining a solid understanding and empathy towards one or two users, we can identify cliches that may be similar between users, expanding our knowledge and empathy. Only then can we write a constructive scenario that makes contributions throughout the design process.