Storytelling talks

Storytelling in design is the use of narrative to communicate ideas, explain a product and connect with people emotionally. Stories give information a structure people can follow and remember: a character, a problem, a turning point and a resolution.

It matters for UI, UX and product work in several ways. Designers use stories to present research and argue for decisions, content strategists use them to make products understandable, and interfaces themselves can guide people through a sequence that feels like a story. In a world of short attention spans, a clear narrative is often what makes a message land.

The two talks here are “How to Tell Stories in an A.D.D. World” by Gary Vaynerchuk at the 99U Conference in 2014 and “The Invisible Side of Design” by Vitaly Friedman at beyond tellerrand in 2012. They are tagged with content strategy and design. The UI-Patterns.com library also covers storytelling as a persuasive pattern.