StoryEngine is a narrative-based methodology that generates qualitative data and insights, communication assets, and opportunities for individuals and organizations to support and connect with the people they serve.
Stewarded by Christine Prefontaine and Chris Lawrence, StoryEngine was developed with support from the Mozilla Foundation. The methodology was initially designed to illuminate and evaluate network effects, gather insights from network members, and guide strategy and program design. So far, the original team has documented more than 250 stories! As we and others have used and evolved the methodology, we’ve discovered more ways that both the process and its outputs can serve other purposes, including
- Design research
- Monitoring, evaluation, learning
- Grant reporting
- Orientation and onboarding new people
- Organizational development
- Individual professional development
Most importantly, StoryEngine was designed to benefit participants, and specifically to ensure that the sharing experience is supportive and never extractive. When possible, each participant retains copyright of their own story, and licenses it back to the sponsoring organization.
Browse our documentation (a bit out of date now) and read a few examples of how StoryEngine has been used. StoryEngine is free and open methodology — we encourage you to experiment and tailor it to your needs!
Learn more
- Join the StoryEngine Slack Channel — ask questions, share examples
- Your StoryEngine — Career therapy for professionals in flux
- Skim through our documentation. We’ve improved StoryEngine since we wrote this, but it’s still a good introduction.
- Browse stories»
- Browse a few StoryEngine client use cases »
- HiveNYC Legacy Report — Example of how stories were combined with analysis, an Annotatathon, and a Design Lab workshop to help the HiveNYC Learning Network at a critical turning point
- Mozilla Foundation Network Insights Report — See how insights from stories have been used to monitor and support strategic planning (prepared for the Mozilla in advance of their 2016 All-Hands meeting)