Part 1 You're my Hero!
How do we architect solutions that turn ordinary users into heroes on their respective journeys?
George Lucas credited Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), as influencing his Star Wars saga. Can the hero’s journey equally influence and inspire UX Design and Solutions Architecture? Let’s look beyond the obvious analogy between user journeys and the hero’s journey.
We have power
Let’s be mindful of the power we yield over the adventures (the stories) our heroes, the users experience as they interact with the systems we design and build.
In short, the Hero’s Journey consists of 3 main stages: departure, initiation and return, which Campbell further deconstructs in roughly 10 detailed steps.
10 Detailed Steps
The Ordinary World
The Call to Adventure
Cross the First Threshold
Trials, Friends and Foes
Magical Mentor (or the Mentor with Supernatural Aid)
Dragon’s Lair
Moment of Despair
Ultimate Treasure
Homeward Bound
Rebirth & The Champion’s Return.
Our Responsibility
In this series of blog posts, I’d like to consider each step, as helpful reminder of our approach and its influence on our methodology for designing products that turn ordinary users into heroes!