Narrative process
Many parts of ALEX, including Benefits Counselor and Medicare, are narrative experiences that guide the user through thorny topics and decisions. When written and designed right, a narrative piece can provide important guidance and dispel confusion.
The first and most important question to ask when crafting an ALEX narrative is: What knowledge do we want our audience to walk away with, and how do we achieve that? We have many tools at our disposal—language, wit, voice, visuals—that can help us reward the user for the time they’ve spent with ALEX.
1. Determine approach
When planning a narrative sequence, the creative team—typically facilitated by a writer or designer—work together to take the product brief or user story, and figure out a general approach. An ideation session is a great way to surface ideas, clarify vague requirements, and get ahead of technical concerns. Ideation sessions can be structured or loose, and the exact format depends on what you want your outcome to be.
If you’re running a session, think about what question(s) might serve as “jumping off points” for the participants and can cultivate ideas. Then design your board around answering those questions.
Another method to is to write a design brief. These are short documents that outline an approach in more detail, and include next steps for implementation. Design briefs are useful when the Product ask is more defined and focused, and the solution will be more technical than broadly creative.
Picking the right form factor
Most ALEX products incorporate text, media, or interactive components into their front-end stack. It’s important to pick the right delivery medium: we know from experience that just blithely reading information out loud will encourage somebody to bail. ALEX should never feel like a talking brochure. (Or, for that matter, a regular one.) Depending on the scope of the experience, you may need more than one form factor to best meet the product’s goals.
When planning a narrative sequence, think about how you can best use these elements:
| Element | Why we use it: | Keep in mind: |
|---|---|---|
| Video | An engaging, visually rich way to unfold information in a deliberate manner. Video is often the best way to share personalized guidance (e.g. decision support for a plan), or break down thorny concepts that benefit from a visual aid (e.g. how a plan covers one’s medical expenses). | If you need to get into the minutiae, consider whether a spoken, timed narrative is truly the best fit for that information. Long sequences of dense material will wear down even the most engaged user’s attention. Good video is time-consuming to produce, so it’s important that each one has obvious value and a clear purpose. |
| Text | A low-tech solution for sharing any kind of information—but especially if it’s highly variable. When you have information that’s too dense or specific for a general user journey, but you want to make sure it’s available for people who need it, a supplemental text page can be a great way to go. | This is the default medium for benefits information and most of the Internet, so it can be harder to summon a user’s attention with just text compared to a well-made video or interactive. Be mindful of choosing text to highlight key moments or to explain tricky concepts—it may not be as effective as a more visual presentation. |
| Interactive component | A flexible, novel way to share detailed information. A well-designed chart or table can help the user quickly understand specific details, by giving them more control over the presentation. | A good interactive is often far more work to produce compared to video or text. Even a simple interactive takes substantial investment to do right, and any clunkiness will quickly frustrate users—so choose them wisely. |
2. Design and development
Once the concept is solidified, a UX writer begins to write text pages and video scripts, following ALEX’s writing guidelines. Interactive components are mocked up in fuller fidelity by a UI designer, following ALEX’s design process.
Then, each completed script, text page, and design prototype undergoes a series of reviews:
- A design review, to identify potential usability issues and user experience opportunities, and ensure the piece flows well in context of the greater product. This is done by an interaction designer. Suggestions should be informed by business logic considerations, to enable a productive logic review.
- An editorial review for voice, grammar, and overall technical quality. This is done by the lead UX writer.
- A DEI review to ensure the writing meets our diversity, equity, and inclusion standards. This is done by Jellyvision’s DEI manager.
- For video: a storyboard review to begin brainstorming visual ideas and identify any issues that may lead to confusing visual beats. This is done by the artist and motion designer.
For branched content
Narrative content that is branched or personalized according to a user’s answers also undergoes a logic review, to review any instances where business logic is used and ensure we have the resources to implement it. This review should be done by a content manager; in their absence, the work should be performed by another UX writer, or a developer.
For Medicare content
All writing related to Medicare must undergo a compliance review to ensure that all text meets the federal government’s standards for Medicare information. This is completed by a contractor, before eventually being submitted to CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service) for final approval.
If the content is destined to become a video, the script is brought to life by the art and media production teams. See the art and media production guidelines for details on these elements.
At a high level, the steps are:
- Storyboarding (for animated moments): Using the approved script, an artist creates storyboards that tell the visual story of the piece. Once completed, they’re reviewed with the writer and motion designer, and any adjustments are made as need be.
- Recording: The script is recorded by the voiceover artist, with direction from the writer(s). Once recorded, takes are selected, and these “selects” are edited and polished.
- Motion design: The completed VO is assembled as a video. For animated moments, the boards are animated in collaboration with the artist. Once completed, the video is reviewed with the rest of the creative team.
- Sound design (for animated moments): The animated video undergoes a sound design pass, which includes sound effects, as well as music if applicable.
3. Implementation
Once produced, the content is ready to be added to the product’s content management system.
Depending on the complexity and scope of the content, a couple other steps may take place:
- QA: All content should at least be reviewed in a live environment by the creative team, particularly to ensure it meets accessibility requirements. In some cases—particularly with logic-heavy content—it may be necessary for a QA analyst/engineer to review it as well.
- A/B testing: Some content may warrant an A/B test, where it is deployed to a random subset of users to gauge the product’s performance vs. the existing version (without the new content). Minor tweaks to language, animations, or editing likely don’t warrant A/B testing. At the other end, major changes to the overall tone and product flow certainly do. Work with Product to determine when A/B testing is appropriate, and what metrics to use to gauge the content’s success.