Storytelling through design

Design Management Journal, Fall 2003 by Sametz, Roger, Maydoney, Andrew

That is, if the story is about technological prowess and user-friendliness but is delivered via a Web vehicle that is hard to navigate, sends viewers down dead-end tunnels, has imagery that doesn't connect to the story, is rendered in colors that don't reproduce well on monitors, and is slow to load-then the story will never be about technological prowess and user-friendliness, no matter how well-crafted the text. Similarly, if the story is about the benefits of a particular service to, say, a family, but the text is presented in undifferentiated gray blocks in the third person and the only imagery is photos of the organization's headquarters-it's not likely to be a convincing story. Even if each building block is well thought out individually, but together they don't cohere, the story will be less effective. A background color choice can sap energy from what would otherwise be compelling imagery; lack of hierarchy among levels of type and imagery (even if the individual choices make sense) may make it hard for the listener to track and follow the story; decisions around space and time may cause a story to be heard in a sequence not intended, with confusion rather than connection resulting.

And it's important to remember that "storytelling is not a panacea-it doesn't always work. Storytelling can only be as good as the underlying idea being conveyed. If that idea is unsound, Storytelling may well reveal its inadequacy."9 And Storytelling does not replace analytical thinking, though it does give it "context and meaning. Abstract analysis is often easier to understand when seen through the lens of a well-chosen story."10

When it all comes together

Building and telling stories that connect teller to listener involves making decisions across a matrix of choices. But when there is alignment among an organization's goals, attributes, and promises; the listener-constituent's needs, interests, and expectations; and the content, execution, and interaction of the building blocks of communications-storytelling brings communications alive. Brand-building is advanced, the complex is made clear, the "whys" are understood in addition to the "hows" and "whats," and people become engaged in a dialogue that is deeper and more enduring than a single transaction-an interaction that fosters healthy relationships based on commitment, participation, support, and trust.

Let us close with these words from Robert Fulford: "We can say of stories what W.H. Auden said about books: Some stories may be unjustly forgotten, but no stories are unjustly remembered."11

1. Stephen Denning, The Springboard: How Storytelling ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations (Boston: Butterworth-Heinmemann, 2001), p. xv.

2. Ibid., p. xv.

3. Howard Gardner, Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership (New York: Basic Books, 1995), p. 3.

4. Robert Fulford, The Triumph of Narrative: Storytelling in the Age of Mass Culture (New York: Broadway Books, 2000), p. 9.

5. Op. cit., p. 14.

6. Larry Prusak, StorytelHng in Organizations, at http://www.creatingthe21stcentury.org.