Storytelling for Digital Products
Storytelling, nowadays, is so trendy that everyone is offering workshops and talks that explain how to use storytelling to effectively present design proposals or build fantastic portfolios. But what about using these techniques to enhance the user experience? This article will show you how to apply storytelling to digital products and deliver better experiences to your users.
Product designers need to be natural storytellers. Any UX portfolio will be much more appealing if the designer manages to tell the story behind each project. Any presentation will be more convincing to your stakeholders. Any grandma will finally understand what you are doing for a living. But are designers good at applying those same storytelling skills when designing digital products?
Back in 2007, in college, I got an interesting assignment in a Multimedia and Teaching class. We needed to build an educational multimedia product. A digital product that should teach the Surrealism to teenagers diagnosed with ADHD. That was the first time I created a digital product that integrated storytelling techniques. Every step, every scenario, and every task was planned in the context of the overall journey that the user would need to do to achieve their goals.
Since then, I have used the same techniques as a way to engage the user and enrich the user experience delivered by the products I design. There is no magic formula since every digital product, unlike a book or movie, has business goals, a target and an ecosystem that might create constraints on how to apply storytelling techniques. Some products will allow a smoother translation of the storytelling techniques than others. Some of them will not make it possible or linear. Nevertheless, it is worth investing time in analysing and integrating storytelling in digital products because the reward for the user and, ultimately, for the business is notorious.
The Users as a Character
The human being is a social being, always looking for ways to connect, be part of the tribe and experiment with things. The user of the digital product is not different in any way. They engage better and faster with products that they can feel related to. It’s almost like a horror movie that makes you jump off the sofa. The users are emotionally engaged. They relate themselves to the need or the pain points that digital product communicates and promises to resolve.
In the college project, I created a virtual character that helped the users explore the available content. This avatar has triggered the user to interact with certain elements on the screen. The avatar was also responsible for creating the bridge between the real world and the virtual scenarios while helping our users achieve an immersive experience. Yes, this might sound outdated but remember that was in 2007. Now, you can use some VR glasses to deliver an even more immersive experience.
For a regular website, it might be expensive and hard to integrate with VR. However, a few techniques can be applied to enhance the immersive user experience. If you are selling something, you can provide close-ups of textures and details. A video of a person using a specific dress will help users understand how that fits and the flow of the fabric. The IKEA 360º view can give details not available in static photos of an object, and they tend to include measures of the object to make it more informative.
Interactive Storytelling
In interactive storytelling, the user is not only emotionally connected with the story but also takes part in it by making their own decisions and contributions to define the direction of the narrative. The users can build their journey and tailor their experience. This technique can allow multiple types of users to solve different needs and pain points in the same digital product. The user takes control of how to solve it.
In the college project, the user could interact with multiple parts of the screen to unveil the information for each artist and achieve the knowledge at their own pace. They could spend more or less time with each artist, according to their preferences. They could choose to read only the mandatory info or explore extra didact content like videos and solve small games.
In a website, for instance, make sure to offer multiple ways for the user to explore content and tailor their experience according to their needs. You can implement the progressive disclosure design pattern to reduce the chances that users will feel overwhelmed by what they encounter and give them control. Some users with time and curiosity would prefer to scroll to unveil all the available information. Other users know what they are looking for, and they will expect to have a simple way to access the information they need to proceed.
Cross-media Storytelling
Remember all the adaptations made to plays or films by books? That could expand their target for the story and generate a few million dollars. If some people love books and imagine their characters and scenarios, others prefer the comfort of a cinema chair and appreciate all the special effects or the extra background stories. And there is no right or wrong, humans are all different.
In the study “The Future Of Storytelling”, one of the findings is that transmedia is more than media shifting: 82% [of the participants] wanted complementary, not duplicating, mobile apps for their TV-watching experience. That might explain why the adaptations from books to films tend to disappoint book lovers. I can confess I’m a huge fan of the “Last of Us” TV show without ever playing the videogame. But, as you can see, the opportunity is there and “all you need to do” is to deeply know your users to provide them with the right experience in the right media.
In the college project, I created interactive content that until then was just presented in the History books. All types of media (available in 2007) were included: video, audio clips, text and images were grabbing the attention of our users. Just a long text on the screen will not work with our target. We adapt the content to new media to use the potentialities of the digital to fulfil our users’ needs and expectations.
When it comes to websites, don’t make them responsive, make them adaptive. Long gone is the time that the same content working in different media like all-size screens or apps was enough. Distinct types of users use alternative devices or platforms to access the same website. But that doesn’t mean they are all looking for the same. They adapt the device/platform choice to their needs and set different expectations for their journey or experience. Some people tend to explore an online shop for more time on a desktop since they can see all the details on a product, but impulsive or frequent buys can be done quickly on the phone while commuting.
As you can see, storytelling has much to offer to our digital products. By integrating these techniques, you can deliver delightful and unique experiences to your users. All contribute to the fact that the same digital product might need to answer different needs, fulfil different expectations and allow distinct user groups to tailor their experience. These three techniques may be the most popular and easy to integrate into product design but are not the only ones.
Are you curious about the topic and open to discussing other storytelling techniques applied to product design? Drop me a line and let’s talk.
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References
Ifeanyi, KC (2012). The Future Of Storytelling: Immersion, Integration, Interactivity, Impact
Dahlström, Anna (Released On: 26 May 2011). Storytelling in Design
Smith, Simon (2011). The BBC Academy Podcast: Transmedia storytelling. Episode leased On 26 May 2011.
