#20. Using storytelling to clarify your client's brief (Part I)
Being a freelancer has taught me that you need to be very focused and ask the right questions, or you may create something that does not match the expectations of your client, nor those of the potential user.
These first questions are the ABCs of a client interview. They will help you understand how your client envisions their product, while providing conversational structure — so your meeting won’t spiral into a messy wishlist of ideas, assumptions, and personal preferences.
#19. What Studio Ghibli Taught Me About Visual Storytelling in UX
While whimsical, playful and optimistic, Studio Ghibli teaches us that visual storytelling is most powerful when it feels familiar, sincere, and purposeful.
As I watched Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron, I admired the quality of the drawings and the stories, as I always do. But feeling inspired, I also scribbled down some ideas about visual storytelling that I’m going to share with you now, to help boost your next project.
#18. Persuasion Through Experience at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum
During the last day of my online workshop, held while I was in Japan, I found myself asking questions about how we can influence others’ opinions and beliefs. The answers were waiting for me in Hiroshima, in that I saw how thoughtful storytelling presents ideas that resonate, inspire, and drive change. From this experience, three key lessons emerge for effective storytelling in design presentations.
#17. Dump Matsumoto and the need for a story villain
This issue focuses on wrestler Dump Matsumoto and explores her remarkable rise to fame. It wasn't solely due to her uniqueness; it was also about understanding key storytelling elements such as character arcs, the creation of a hook, and the power of contrast.
#16. Become a Story Machine! Free Storytelling Courses for Designers (Part II)
In this issue, I’m going to suggest a few more ways to help you become a better UX designer and storyteller. These are free online courses, to follow the resources I shared a few weeks ago.
#15. UX Design through the lens of an iconic movie: Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky
In this issue, we learn that Tarkovsky’s Stalker isn’t just a film, but an experience that powerfully reshapes how we think about time, space, and interpretation. In UX design, we can draw inspiration from this masterpiece to craft interactions that are more deliberate, immersive, and meaningful.
#14. Create your Vision Board using the Power of Storytelling
In this issue, I will explain how you can use Donald Miller’s StoryBrand Framework to create a vision board that aligns with your goals, tackles key areas of your life, and inspires action. I create my vision board using this storytelling technique that I typically use to help my clients visualise their businesses. With creativity and adaptation, we can apply the same structure to envision our lives and the year to come.
#12. Become a Story Machine! Storytelling Books for Designers (Part I)
In this issue, I recommend several essential books for designers, each centered on a different area of design, yet all connected by the theme of storytelling. The goal is that you will soon become a Story Machine yourself!
#11. A survival kit for creative minds: three storytelling tools to inspire you!
While there are tons of informative articles about creativity just waiting to be Googled, I think we each have our own personal ways of staying creative. That said, I do have a ‘Survival Kit for Creativity’, so I will now share three tools that form part of this essential kit!