What’s the Story with Storytelling?

Consider this lineup: a sensational comedian, a TEDTalker, an investor on Shark Tank, and the Walt Disney Company. Think about the relationship between them; what do you think they all have in common? While their roles seem to be at opposite ends of the figurative occupational spectrum, there remains a common denominator: they all understand the power in being able to tell a good story. The best designers (i.e. visual, graphic, product, UI, UX, etc.) also earn a spot on this list, because they know that design is all about communication.

Compelling narratives serve as a secret weapon to effective demonstration, persuasion, and inspiration. They give us situational context, elements of relatability, and new grounds for conversation and questions. In a podcast episode of Design Thinking Roundtable, host Anne-Laure Fayard spoke with Lee-Sean Huang, a designer and storyteller. He provided listeners with more background information about a designer’s perspective on why storytelling has the ability to elevate design thinking. Huang describes how stories are embedded in the design process: “in the ethnography phase and research phase… we’re collecting stories about [users’] lives today, how they got there, why they do what they do, and how they make sense of the world.” He goes on to talk about how “stories also act as these artifacts that allow us to discuss and debate what is good or what is desirable within a given design choice.” Prior to this, Huang mentioned that stories help us understand systems. In lieu of understanding the power and relationships in systems, we are able to get a clearer and more accurate depiction of how design affects people’s lives. With this knowledge, we are able to make much more informed design decisions in our projects and ultimately, create more useful and appropriate designs. As designers, we have the ability to choose whether we would like to remain narrow-minded in a dictatorial fashion or design for the “masses” in a democratic way. It is storytelling that helps show us how to design things that are more accessible for everyone, which is the ultimate and universal end goal of designing.

Check out this infographic I made inspired by Lee-Sean Huang’s words: