Characteristics of narrative textual data linked to user experiences

Abstract

While we can rely on a wide variety of techniques and methods from human and social sciences to collect narratives within human-computer interaction, the knowledge about the specific characteristics of this source and their systematic use for user experience (UX) research is limited. In this paper we argue that it is crucial to pay more attention to the specifics of narrative textual data. Building on the approaches developed by the sociologists Schutze and Flick, we emphasize the need for developing a classification of textual data, in order to provide a theoretical foundation for narrative practices in UX research. In the following, we present four different text types for structuring textual data and their relevance regarding user experiences. This paper represents an initial step towards a more systematic and theory driven perspective on narratives, supporting a structured collection and analysis of textual data in UX research.