Perception of Human-Centred Stories and Technical Descriptions when Analyzing and Negotiating Requirements

The present study investigates the perception of technical descriptions and of stories where the events are driven by the motivations and emotions of their characters. The study is explorative, using mixed qualitative and quantitative methods and with a total of 10 participants. The participants accepted the use of stories and strongly preferred stories with emotional and dramatic elements. The study indicates that humancentered stories encourage and facilitate detailed discussions of social aspects and situations of use, whereas technical descriptions may block such discussions. The study indicate that stories are not a reliable mean of changing the attitudes of the readers, and it shows that stories are not better than technical descriptions for communicating factual or technical information.