Narrative Design Research Articles

Quality of Life of Adolescents and Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer: A Qualitative Study.

To analyse how adolescents and young adults who survived childhood cancer experience their quality of life and to explore their meanings and conceptualisations of quality of life. Narrative design following Squire's method. In-person and virtual recruitment, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, was carried out in Brazil between May and November 2021. Eighteen semi-structured virtual interviews were conducted with childhood cancer survivors. These data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and employing a triangulation of investigators. Four subthemes were identified, encompassing participants' perceptions and meanings of quality of life. Through the reflection and synthesis of these subthemes, a central theme emerged entitled 'New self', capturing the profound impact of the cancer and survival experience on every aspect of the self, along with participants' sense of having gained 'a new life' and a 'second chance'. The study provides a rich and nuanced understanding of quality of life for childhood cancer survivors. The results highlight that after all the changes in life due to cancer, integrating the new self becomes a central aspect of quality of life for survivors. Recognising the profound shifts in self-perception that survivors of childhood cancer undergo, nurses should engage early in empowering patients and families, offering education, space and support to help adolescents and young adults grow throughout their journey. The richness and depth inherent in qualitative data on quality of life can inform the development of care standards and health policies for survivors, guide the allocation of strategic resources and shape the development of plans and interventions focusing on childhood cancer survivors. The COREQ checklist was used. No patient or public contribution.

Playful Resilience: Empowering Recovery through Autobiographical Game-Based Storytelling in the Opioid Epidemic

The opioid epidemic is a persistent public health problem throughout Canada, with opioid-related deaths spiking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on Brantford and Hamilton, Ontario, which have high rates of opioid poisoning, this participatory game jam project examines how 21 adults (ages 18+) with a history of opioid addiction make sense of their life experiences through the processes of autobiographical game-based storytelling, including ideation, narrative design, and environmental storytelling. Phenomenological interviews, processual artifacts like concept sketches, doodles, and reflections, and game prototypes generated through Scratch, Twine, and Bitsy facilitated the exploration of six key phenomena representing autobiographical game-based storytelling: maze metaphors, decision-making, compact games, morality and religion, resilience, and social communion. This interdisciplinary project explores how game-based storytelling supports recovery and restores dignity among adults experiencing opioid addiction while raising awareness of health inequities, thereby humanizing the opioid crisis.

Video game structural layers for narrative design and articulation

ABSTRACT Video Games are composites of interlocking structures that collectively create meaning for the player to investigate and act upon. The most apparent form of meaning for the player is the narrative story or context. However, the narrative in a video game is structured and contextualized itself by the inherent form of the video game. This range of meaning making tools in the medium is both daunting and exciting. To understand the application of narrative better, designers, critics and academics need to be able to distinguish and understand the high-level structural layers that affect and support it. This paper offers a focused review of the relevant literature, explanations of key terms and diagrams and an illustration demonstrating the relationships of these structural layers.

Can We Call the Speech Acts of Heroes who Bounce Back from Defeat Ultimatives?

In animated films and video games, there is always a scene where the heroes bounce back from defeat and charge the villains with a final strike. I argue that this particular scene has a specific speech act – ultimative. To prove this claim, I employed apostrophe as a dramatic device by Wagener (1931), speech act markers by Zeevat (2003), speech act formula by Pawley (2009), and invocation by Frankfurter (2019) on twenty titles of animated films and video games to indicate the presence of ultimatives. The findings indicate that ultimatives have distinctive traits. Speech act markers of sudden changes of speech and narratives, pathic speech act markers, and speech act markers of invocation construct them. The combination of these three elements constructs the speech act of ultimatives. I also found that ultimatives in animated films and video games have different functions due to different characteristics and features of the media. In animated films, ultimatives function as a narrative marker indicating that ultimatives signify the plot progression and rationalization. In video games, ultimatives function not only as a narrative marker but also as mechanical marker. Functioning as a mechanical marker indicates that ultimatives require the players to perform certain mechanical interactions through button configuration to bounce back from possible game over. Narrative designers of both animated films and video games could employ the results of this study as a consideration in designing dramatic battle scenes that contain apostrophes to evoke narrative engagement from the audiences and gamers.

Vitalidad en movimiento: la experiencia de la actividad física musicalizada en la calidad de vida del adulto mayor

To establish the impact of musicalized physical activity on the quality of life of older adults. The present research adopts a qualitative approach through a narrative design, using semi-structured interviews as a method of data collection. Content analysis was used to address dimensions such as self-concept, socioemotional skills, health, and physical well-being. A positive impact on self-esteem and interpersonal relationships, improvements in conflict resolution and communication skills, as well as gains in vitality, physical and mental well-being are highlighted. In addition, the constant motivation to remain active in the area of physical wellbeing is highlighted. The findings provide contextualized evidence of the positive impacts that community-based physical activity programs have on the overall quality of life of older adults. The experiences and testimonies of the participants highlight concrete impacts on fundamental biopsychosocial dimensions to promote active and healthy aging.

Lockdown Stories: A Qualitative Assessment and Comprehensive Taxonomy of Career Resources

Career resources are receiving increasing attention in the context of career development. This paper utilizes M. E. Ford’s (1992) ten components of effective functioning to provide a comprehensive typology of factors likely to act as career resources and test this proposition in a context of career shock with a narrative design. In the weeks following the first COVID-19 lockdown, 42 participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their well-being, perceived employability, and emotional anticipation of their career future, as well as to write three stories about their experience with the lockdown. M. E. Ford’s categories were used to identify and code the resources and obstacles mentioned in the stories. Results show the relevance of such a taxonomy to classify both career resources and obstacles. Additionally, the type of story (general story, positive or negative story) in which career resources and obstacles were mentioned played a significant role in their association with the quantitative measures. Conceptual and practical implications are discussed.

Design and practices of Huizhou Zhuangyuan’s cultural and creative products based on narrative design

Design and practices of Huizhou Zhuangyuan’s cultural and creative products based on narrative design

Voices of Parent-Carers Navigating the Care for Children With Osteogenesis Imperfecta.

Parent-carers of children with rare diseases, including osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), represent a vulnerable and largely invisible population. Despite existing research on familial OI caregiving, the unique experiences, perspectives, and feelings of parent-carers remain poorly understood, prompting this study to delve into these aspects through the subjective lens of voices. The aim of this study was to explore the voices of parent-carers in navigating the complexities of pediatric OI care. Employing a narrative design informed by social constructionism, 15 parent-carers of pediatric OI patients were purposively sampled from a tertiary hospital in Shandong Province, China, between May and August 2021. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted, and data were analyzed using the voice-centered relational approach followed by thematic analysis. Parent-carers' narratives revealed two overarching themes. The first theme, "the all-encompassing caregiver role," highlighted the profound internal transformation parent-carers underwent, with three key aspects of experiences: "the centrality of care," "life on hold," and "guarded silence." The second theme, "navigating ambivalence," captured the complex psycho-emotional journey of parent-carers as they balanced denial and acceptance, experienced the burden and responsibility of caregiving, navigated uncertainty with hope, and sought to normalize the care recipients' experiences while acknowledging their unique needs. Our findings suggest the need for developing tailored support strategies that address not only practical challenges but also the psychosocial dimensions of caregiving, to effectively assist and empower this marginalized carer population.

Unveiling silent stories of women with stillbirth at Shai Osudoku District Hospital

BackgroundStillbirth remains a prevalent issue worldwide, particularly affecting low-income and middle-income countries, where it brings immense sorrow and suffering to families, especially mothers. Sadly, support for women coping with this...

Character-Driven Narratives in D&D5E and Fate: Core System

What if the characters we create in games could shape a game’s storyline, making our character creation choices the driving force behind unforgettable narratives? This study explores character- driven narrative design in tabletop roleplayinggame (TTRPG) rulesets, aiming to identify features that lead to character-driven narratives. With consideration of the complexities of interactive mediums we use narratological ideas presented by Eladhari, Chatman, Todorov and others to compare the features of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (Wizards of the Coast 2016) and Fate: Core System (Evil Hat Productions 2013). We present a promising approach for TTRPG design, and argue that Fate: Core Systems active approach to using character traits to generate conflict leads to more character-centric narratives when compared to the Inspiration mechanic that many Dungeons & Dragons 5E players are familiar with.

Narrative research on the capabilities of widows receiving social cash transfer

The aim of this study was to examine the capabilities of widows in Turkey who received social cash transfers after the death of their husbands in the context of Nussbaum's capabilities approach, starting from their childhood, before and after the death of their husbands. The study used a narrative design, one of the qualitative research designs. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 participants selected through snowball sampling. Thematic analysis of the data in MAXQDA 2022 program was conducted according to Nussbaum's ten basic capabilities principles. The results revealed that the participants' limited capabilities, starting from their childhood years, were transformed into multiple disadvantages during marriage, the death of the spouse, and later life processes. Becoming a “widow” at the end of such a life cycle not only led to dependency on social cash transfers in the fight against poverty, but also did not create opportunities to expand their capabilities.

Violence during transition: accounts of gender-affirming care in South Africa’s public health system

Despite constitutional protections afforded to the LGBTQ+ community, South Africa remains a society violent towards gender minorities. With public healthcare over-burdened, this system of care remains particularly unresponsive to the needs of transgender people who seek to affirm their gender medically. With a narrative design, this research explored the experiences of transgender people of violence through their access to gender-affirming care. This study troubled the notion of violence from a social determinant of health to situate it as an unexplored mechanism of meaning-making in the South African context. Using gatekeepers aligned with LGBTQ+ support groups, 15 volunteer participants recollected their accounts through semi-structured interviews. Using this undirected talk, the narrative analysis found that gaps in care become a key point in the narrative trajectory of participants shaping their decision-making around experiences of interpersonal violence and for personal advocacy with healthcare professionals. Similarly, the clinic was narrated as a site of violence both symbolically through invasive bodily examinations and structurally as a place for perpetrators of anti-transgender violence to target transgender patients. Transition in this context can be seen as a mode to understand several competing violence/s where the body is treated as a site for physical, psychological and structural harm.

Experience of caregivers and healthcare professionals using a telemedicine programme in a paediatric palliative care unit.

Telemedicine is a means of providing efficient treatment for children with complex chronic conditions and/or subsidiary palliative paediatric care. To evaluate how satisfied families and healthcare professionals are with a telemedicine programme. This is a qualitative study of narrative design. Ten interviews were conducted with family members and professionals who had been using telemedicine for a year. Sampling was intentional and a discourse and content analysis was conducted. Six thematic categories emerged from the analysis of the interviews: degree of satisfaction; usefulness; benefits according to patient needs and attention; technical and human difficulties; and implantation of the system and proposals for improvement. The study shows that telemedicine is a very useful complementary tool for healthcare professionals in a palliative care context. It is necessary to take into account the perception and needs of both families and healthcare professionals with regard to this tool since it can improve patient care.

Violencia institucional en atención por casos de violencia de género en Comisarías de Familia de Tunja, Boyacá, Colombia

This research aimed to analyze the acts of institutional violence and violation experienced by women when reporting gender violence at Family Police Stations in the city of Tunja, Boyacá, Colombia. The study was qualitative, supported by a narrative design of topics, and the technique for gathering information was the interview with a guide of semi-structured questions. The sources were selected through non-probabilistic convenience sampling, totaling 25 women who reported gender-based violence. The results are presented according to the phases of comprehensive care that are developed in these offices, allowing us to find that there are behaviors of revictimization, omission, and coercive action in the description of the criminal acts and throughout the entire care cycle by the officials. There is objectification of a symbolic nature in the face of acts of violence that chronify the sequelae of the traumatic experience of the violating act, negligence due to biased administrative actions concerning the victim's risk profile, and consensus on taking protective measures and undue diligence due to the bureaucratic network and interdisciplinary action. It is concluded that this violation is generated due to bureaucratic aspects that limit due process, lack of complementary training, and qualification of human talent with a gender perspective.

The exercise world of otaku: extended body techniques, alternative body projects, and controllable social architecture

Why do some people opt for exergames like Ring Fit Adventure (RFA) over traditional exercise venues such as gyms? Focusing on the case of RFA, this study examines the social factors that contribute to this preference and explores the potential of video games to create alternative social contexts of physical exercise. Our findings indicate that that RFA constructs a distinct social context that aligns more closely with the body conceptions of the players, assisting them in partially breaking away from dominant norms of body presentation. Notably, RFA acknowledges and extends players’ body techniques related to video games, allowing them to acquire various exercise skills and helping them form alternative body projects and exercise practices through narrative design and game mechanics. The players’ utilization of multiple social media tools constructs a more controllable and individual-centric social architecture that enhances the autonomy of their body presentations.

Violencia institucional en comisarías de familia de Boyacá, Colombia

This study aimed to analyze cases of institutional violence and rights violations at Family Police Stations in the handling of gender violence cases in the provinces of Márquez and Centro, in the department of Boyacá, Colombia. The research methodology was qualitative, supported by a narrative design of topics; the information collection technique was the semi-structured interview, the analysis method was axial coding, and the information sources were selected through non-probabilistic convenience sampling. A total of 40 women in the early and middle stages of their adult life cycle participated. The results allowed for the identification that the most common violations are centered around the revictimization of the traumatic experience when coming into contact with the office professionals to report and in the articulation with entities for expert examinations, coerciveness and questioning in the description of the punishable facts, lack of taking provisional protection measures not adjusted to the case allowing the recurrence of risk events by the aggressor, negligence in the follow-up of the adopted measures, and bureaucracy in the administrative procedures that facilitate immediate action against non-compliance with protection measures and assessment to establish the risk profile. It is concluded that this is generated due to factors such as improper diligence in the attention phases and the lack of complementary training for the attention in cases of gender violence.

DynBioSketch: A tool for sketching dynamic visual summaries in biology, and its application to infection phenomena

Having simple methods of illustration is essential to scientific thinking. To complement the abstract sketches regularly used in cell biology, we propose DynBioSketch, an easy-to-use digital modeling and animation tool, enabling biologists to resort to less simplified representations when necessary without having to call professional artists. DynBioSketch is an interactive sketching system dedicated to the design and communication of biological phenomena at the cellular scale that can be illustrated in a few minutes of animation. Our model integrates 3D modeling, pattern-based design of 3D shape distributions, and sketch-based animation. These elements can be combined to create complex scenarios such as the infection phenomenon on which we focus, allowing a narrative design adapted to communication between researchers or educational applications in biology. Our results, along with a user study conducted with biology researchers, highlight the potential of DynBioSketch in enabling the direct design of dynamic visual summaries that convey relevant information, as shown in our infection case study. By bridging the gap between abstract representations used by experts and more illustrative depictions, DynBioSketch opens a new avenue for communicating biological concepts.

The Playful Karoo: Translating a South African Story into the Metaverse

ABSTRACT This research paper explores different game design methodologies that can be used to translate the South African novel Souvenir by Jane Rosenthal, set in the semi-desert region known as the Karoo into a Virtual Reality experience, which can live on the Metaverse. The paper suggests that the translated Virtual Reality experience can be used as a tool for climate change action and awareness, as well as a way to preserve South African stories on the Metaverse. The paper focuses on various narrative design methodologies for storytelling in game design, suggesting which would work best for the translation of a novel into a Virtual Reality experience. Additionally, it explores practical methodologies for the production of 3D game objects and assets required to recreate the Karoo landscape as described in the novel. This encompasses an exploratory excursion conducted within the Karoo region itself, wherein the collection of primary data is executed for the creation of game assets. Additionally, this involves a comprehensive examination of Henry Jenkins’ methodologies in game design, particularly focusing on narrative elements within gaming. A meaningful impact on the Metaverse is pursued through the translation of this Karoo-based South African novel, into Virtual Reality.

Research on narrative design of handicraft intangible cultural heritage creative products based on AHP-TOPSIS method

To address the issues of subjectivity and bias that designers face in selecting and constructing narrative cultural themes when introducing narrative design methods into the design of handicraft intangible cultural heritage cultural and creative products, a model incorporating quantitative analysis methods into the narrative theme selection process is proposed. First, based on the theory of cultural levels and semiotic structure, a new narrative text structure is developed to enrich the narrative cultural themes of handicraft intangible cultural heritage. Second, a process model for constructing narrative texts of handicraft intangible cultural heritage is established using kansei engineering, factor analysis, and the TOPSIS method, to minimize the impact of subjective factors in the narrative theme selection process. Finally, using the design of Huangmei Cross Flower cultural and creative products as an example, the feasibility of the model is validated. This method model effectively reduces the transmission bias of cultural features in the narrative design process of handicraft intangible cultural heritage, providing a theoretical foundation for further design practice of handicraft intangible cultural heritage products.

Adolescent sexual and reproductive health literacy needs: a sub-national level assessment in Ghana.

This study assessed young adolescents' access and literacy challenges to sexual and reproductive health information and knowledge gaps in the Effutu Municipality in the Central Region of Ghana. We used a narrative design and a focus group discussion method to glean data from 52 in-school adolescents, aged 11-15. Focus group discussions were conducted using a discussion guide and data were processed using QDA Miner (version 6.0). We analyzed data thematically using an iterative process of data validation, coding and recording. The participants had poor knowledge of the concepts of sexual and reproductive health and its essential domains. Abstinence was the predominant sexual and reproductive health goal of the participants. Yet, many males admitted to having sexual partners. There was difficult linguistic and physical access to structured and safe information. Personal hygiene, signs of sexual maturation and abstinence were the predominant contents available to young adolescents. A revision of adolescent health policies and strategies to embrace actions for improving unrestricted access to easy-to-read educational materials and adolescent health literacy is essential. Creating adolescent corners and introducing peer education in schools within Effutu and other municipalities in the Central Region will be useful.