Article Journal of Business and Technical Communication 2018, Vol. 32(2) 198-228 Mapping Use, ª The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Storytelling, and DOI: 10.1177/1050651917746708 Experience Design: journals.sagepub.com/home/jbt User-Network Tracking as a Component of Usability and Sustainability Jeffrey A. Bacha1 Abstract Framed around three different antenarratives about system development, this article builds on established user-centered theories to present a mixed- method approach to user experience (UX) design. By combining network theory, storytelling, and process mapping, this article provides a practical method of including users’ experiences during the predevelopment stages of building workplace-specific digital technologies. Specifically, this article argues for the collection of user-generated antenarratives as the first step in UX product development and demonstrates how to use those experience- based stories. 1University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA Corresponding Author: Jeffrey A. Bacha, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1720 2nd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. E-mail:
[email protected] Bacha 199 Keywords usability, user-centered, UX, network analysis, storytelling Philosophies associated with user-centered design, experience architecture, and the more modernly termed user experience (UX) design all have one factor in common: Human needs and their experiences should dictate prod- uct development practices. Each term is also attached to a shared ideolo- gical assumption that people who use a product will find it more usable if it matches their own needs and desires. Further, like other humanistic design developers, UX developers attempt to channel users’ experiences in product development processes. As Getto, Potts, Salvo, and Gossett (2013) have explained, an important goal for most UX developers is “to design products that are not only usable, but will be used once they are launched” (p.