Fact or Fiction: Is Great Storytelling a Dying Art? | Artefact

In a fast-paced digital world of so many pointless posts, silly status updates and useless tweets, is there anyone out there who cares enough to actually engage for more than two minutes??Don?t get me wrong, I?m all for bit-size chunks of brevity that inform, educate, and engage. More importantly? have an interesting point of view. We?re all busy.?But has our attention span become so ridiculously short that we aren?t willing, we aren?t capable, of engaging in anything of real substance??I don?t believe so. The best brands, the most interesting individuals, and even the most engaging experiences are successful because they spend time telling great stories. I?m not talking about marketing spin. I?m talking about dedicating time to craft an authentic narrative that resonates with its intended audience because it doesn?t add to the noise and all the clutter, but creates clarity, purpose, and more meaning in our hectic lives.

Last week I attended the Seattle Interactive Conference (@seattleinteract) with a few of my colleagues from Artefact (@artefactgroup and @10Kft). Like all conferences, there were some standout sessions and some real duds. Just when I thought I?d had enough and felt the need to get back to the office to get some real work done, I attended Elan Lee?s (@elanlee) session ?Innovations in Storytelling: The Audience is Ours to Lose?. Now not everyone has had the same good fortune as Elan (an original Xbox game designer and founder of 4^th Wall Studios), who has created some of the most immersive, elaborate, and high-budget entertainment experiences. In his talk, he shared some of his behind-the-scenes stories from a few projects and a few lessons he?s learned. His three key points: 1) Promises (deliver on yours), 2) Technology (challenge the), 3) Think like them (admit you don?t). It was entertaining. It was relevant. It was also over the top (intentionally), but it stuck with me, like a great story does. He?s taking transmedia storytelling and original programming to a whole new level at his company 4th Wall Studios.

At Artefact, our craft is designing and developing premiere quality consumer technology products and services that improve people?s lives. Storytelling plays a fundamental role in our product design process. During all parts of the design process, even when we?re deep into the pixels and bits, we are always seeking to understand people ? their interests, their intent, and what motivates them. In doing so, we seek to design products that create a positive outcome and become an integral part of the fabric of their lives . Take Meme, for example, our concept for a fashionable, wearable camera. It is for young people on the go, who use digital technology as much to express themselves as to help them, for whom snapping, sharing, and wearing their photos will become part of the story of their day.

While storytelling can easily become ?spin?, today?s consumers aren?t buying the snake oil of marketers anymore. They can easily identify a fake and are quick to use social media to point it out to all their friends. Designing a great product experience for consumers means the value of using the product is self-evident. It is an integral part of the experience itself. It tells its own story and makes a meaningful, lasting impression that inspires, motivates, rewards.

In Sarah Doody?s (@sarahdoody) article in uxmag.com titled ?Why we need storytellers at the heart of product development,? she describes the importance of this role and concludes with a simple but challenging question for organizations ? ?who creates your product story?? The stories that people remember, the ones they share over dinner, and become part of their daily lives, are the experiences that are personally meaningful. Crafting a great product story is a worthwhile pursuit we?re willing to invest time in ? definitely more than just two minutes.

Source: http://www.artefactgroup.com/content/fact-or-fiction-is-great-storytelling-a-dying-art/

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