After defining my thesis topic as Narrative UX & Interactive Web Storytelling, I wanted to engage more directly with designers who explicitly connect storytelling and design. One impulse that felt especially relevant was watching Ellen Lupton’s talk Storytelling and Visual Design. After the talk, I spent a few hours browsing through her book Design is Storytelling, skimming through it and reading the parts that drew me in the most.
The Talk: Storytelling and Visual Design
What stayed with me most from Lupton’s talk was her idea of the journey as the interface. She described interfaces as narrative paths, using the example of a weight loss app. The user is on one long journey toward a goal, while within that journey there are many smaller daily journeys, such as logging progress or receiving feedback. Each interaction becomes a small narrative moment within a larger story.
Lupton also explained how even very small design elements can tell stories. Interface icons, transitions, and micro-interactions function as short narrative cues that guide users and shape expectations. Another key idea was her explanation of mazes versus labyrinths. A maze is designed to confuse, while a labyrinth has one guided path. She used IKEA as an example of a labyrinth: a long, structured journey where the visitor moves through different stages and succeeds at the end (often rewarded with a hot dog). This made me think about how well-designed interfaces should guide users through information rather than overwhelm them.
The Book: Design is Storytelling
The book expands on many of the ideas introduced in the talk and frames storytelling as a practical design tool rather than something purely narrative or fictional. Lupton argues that all design communicates a message, whether it is political, social, or cultural, and that storytelling provides a structure for how those messages are experienced. Instead of focusing on linear stories, she presents storytelling as a way of shaping meaning through interaction, sequencing, and context.
A key part of the book is Lupton’s framework of Action, Emotion, and Sensation, which she uses to describe how people move through designed experiences. Action focuses on paths and decisions, similar to the idea of users navigating a guided journey. Emotion centers on empathy and human-centered design methods, such as personas and experiences, while Sensation looks at how users perceive and react to visual and interactive cues. Together, these layers helped me better understand how narrative structure and interaction design overlap.
Another idea that stood out was her explanation of how storytelling adds value by providing context. Lupton uses examples like coffee culture to show how experience can transform a simple product into something more meaningful. This made it clear that storytelling in design is often subtle and embedded in atmosphere, flow, and expectations rather than explicitly told. For my thesis, this reinforced the idea that Narrative UX is less about telling a story to users and more about guiding them through one in a way that feels intentional and coherent.
Why This Was an Impulse for My Research
This impulse helped me clarify how storytelling principles apply directly to interaction design. Lupton’s talk introduced the idea of interfaces as guided journeys, while her book provided language and structure for thinking about narrative in design. For my thesis on Narrative UX & Interactive Web Storytelling, this reinforced the idea that interfaces do not simply present content, but guide users through experiences. Seeing design as a form of storytelling helped me think more intentionally about how users move through digital spaces and how meaning is constructed through interaction.
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