Storytelling with User Interfaces

I just finished reading Storytelling is the Future of the Web by Chris Butler. The author writes about how compelling messages are created by using characters to tell a certain story.

He goes on to observe...

This has been established marketing thinking for a very long time. But somehow, the concept of storytelling doesn't seem to have worked its way down from the worldwide mega-brands to the next tier of businesses in which you and I work. But why shouldn't it? After all, we're endeavoring to speak to the very same people they are!

This very good article is divided into two parts, Storytelling is the Future of the Web, Telling Stories, Capturing Attention and Facilitating Storytelling on the Web. All well worth reading. But mind you - they are pretty long.

I think Chris makes a very important point when he says...

User interface design decisions don't tell a story on their own, but they can certainly keep a story from being told. The most important thing to keep in mind when determining the functionality of a page is the page's core purpose. Every additional widget or call to action on a page should either directly support or at least not overshadow it's main point. Those that do not are more likely to distract your readers than help them focus.

In a related article Chris Creech writes about User Interfaces That Supplement Storytelling.

Have a look at that post too. It has some good examples in there.

The image used above belongs to Viget Inspire. A site mentioned in Chris Chreech's article.