A story about stories and people at work
Stories are more than a new UI paradigm for social platforms. Stories have revolutionised the way we share information. And it’s only just the start. Stories have the potential to fundamentally change the way businesses tell their story and engage their audience. Once is bringing stories to people at work, combining the simplicity of the story format with the power of a productivity tool.
Stories
Stories have become the default way for people to communicate their ideas. The reasons behind this shift are plain enough: stories are easy to create, easy to consume, and built for two-way communication.
Firstly, stories reduce friction when it comes to creating content. The format makes crafting visually appealing, captivating messages easy.
Secondly, stories lower the barrier for consuming content. The format is mobile-ready and is designed to deliver short, impactful messages.
Lastly, stories are designed for two-way communication. A story is — at bottom — an invitation to become an active participant and step into a conversation.
As a format, they’re built around new expectations derived from the way people communicate with one another on a day-to-day basis: simple, instant, and participative. They’re more than a new UI paradigm, they’re a new way to share ideas.
People at work
So, why should it be any different when it comes to people at work? If you’re like me, you probably don’t have a work-brain that you switch on when you get into work. A boring presentation is just as boring whether I read it at work or at home.
Yet, businesses still rely on out of date formats to share information. Slides, surveys, forms, emails: whether what your company is communicating is interesting or not, the format alone is enough to get my brain reaching for the snooze button. It’s as true for a feedback survey on a product I recently bought as it is for a pitch deck that I’m struggling to open on my phone.
The point isn’t that your deck, your survey, or your message isn’t worth sharing. It’s that the format in which it’s shared is impractical and doesn’t do justice to the hard work you’ve actually put in to reach me with it.
Once upon a time
At Once, we believe stories are a game-changer for knowledge workers. By bringing stories to people at work and combining them with the power of a productivity tool, we are pioneering a new category of software. This isn’t presentations, communication, or feedback reinvented. It’s a new way to think about how businesses share their story and engage their community.
Designed for all knowledge workers — makers, marketers, HR, sales to name a few — Once helps them address all of their stakeholders, whether they are customers, employees, investors, partners, or event attendees. And Once helps for all the important milestones in their business — whether they’re announcing a new product, asking for user feedback, or presenting their latest idea.
In short: Once is introducing a new format for businesses to connect to their audience.
How it works
Once lets teams and individuals tell their story, using pre-designed blocks to make it easy to create visual, impactful stories. Once comes packed with interactive features like sliders, call to actions, and polls to engage users’ audiences. Once makes sharing stories easy by sending a link and making stories accessible from any browser and any device. Lastly, Once gathers structured data to allow users to gain insights into how well their stories are performing, and what answers their audience are providing.
Tell your story
We recently opened Once’s private beta. Since our beta was announced, hundreds of brands have created thousands of stories and transformed the way that they tell their story and engage their community. We will follow with a public release in the coming months, if you’re interested in testing/joining/learning more about Once, here are some links:
👉 Join the team bringing stories to people at work
