There’s many ways to tell a story,share a narrative.
But all good stories share characteristics.
- We identify with human characters
- Any ‘journey’ isn’t interesting unless there are obstacles
- If the situation is the same at the end as the beginning, the effort of reading, watching or listening to the story feels futile
As Carl Alviani writes in a Medium article ‘The Science behind Storytelling’, our brains are hardwired for narrative.
If the story doesn’t have the above three elements, we’re simply not that interested.
The same story itch has to be scratched when it comes to digital experiences.
Our interaction with a website, app, device or service also needs to follow our hardwired story arc requirement.
Alviani’s diagram of this arc is:
Old normal > clear goal > obstacles > external allies > struggle > new normal
From our brain’s point of view, if a digital experience doesn’t follow this pattern, we find it a huge struggle to make it fit a narrative structure. The story simply doesn’t make sense.
But, there’s a story for every user experience.
As Alviani writes:
“What’s imperative upon us as designers is to recognise these elements, and accept the challenge of fitting them to a narrative, so the user doesn’t have to. [my emphasis]. That’s our struggle, and we have an incredible array of allies on hand to help us. All that’s missing, really, is the motive.”
Are you struggling to create a narrative around your product or service? Need a hand? Give Punchline a call…it’s not necessarily easy, but it is doable.