COMIC-BASED DIGITAL STORYTELLING The use of digital storytelling in forms of comics for reflecting on situations involving conflicts

This thesis presents three case studies in which comic-based digital storytelling is adopted as a means to support the reflection on particular situations involving conflicts. The potential of digital storytelling combined with the comic’s genre has been identified in previous works. Anyway, there is a need of empirical evidence on the advantages and disadvantages on which this approach can be based. Moreover, in most of the research, it has to be noted that digital comics have been identified, in the majority of the research, as a medium to access content, not to create them. Consequently, this thesis contributes to the investigation of employing digital storytelling based on comics informed by previous practices to narratives’ use. Therefore, the case studies are conducted to deeply explore how comic-based digital storytelling can support the reflection of significant troubling experiences. Quantitative and qualitative methods, related to both the user experience and the comics’ construction, are used, which show the benefits and drawbacks when adopting digital torytelling in the form of comics. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses of this approach are described in the conclusion. As a matter of fact, in the conclusion, we report a final reflection on the engagement, stakeholder involvement, collaboration, technology, comics, and reflection concepts while considering possible future works on the research topic.