Kevin and I were talking about how we create stories. And that led us to think about how long a story has to last.

Of course some stories are carefully crafted. Kevin’s roller coaster story has been told and refined and retold. It’s on his CD “Kiss of Summer” where you can hear how finely tuned both the story and performance are. Good user research can be like this, as you sift through the data to find just the right way to share what you have learned.

Others are just quick illustrations. Both of us construct them on the fly as a way of illustrating points we’re making. Once you get used to the idea – and if you know your personas well – it gets easy to envision them in a situation, and tell that story.

Kevin brought up the idea that stories can be like a mold or a form. They are created to be used to create something else. An architect he knows is building his own house. The walls of the foundation will be made out of concrete cast in styrofoam. These seem like opposite materials. But when you put them together, you get the freedom and fluidity of styrofoam to make the prototype, and the permanence of concrete. It turns out that the foam is just strong enough to hold its shape while the concrete hardens. Then it crumbles away.

Scenarios for personas – the stories about what the user experience of a new product might be like - are often like this. They represent careful analysis, and are meant to be used over time. They gradually gaining solidity as they are designed and developed. But in the end, what’s left is the final product, not the story. These stories give a shape to the idea, but only last long enough for the idea to take shape around them.

How do you use stories in your work?