The Future of Digital Products is in Storytelling.
Design Musings #1
When people ask me what type of designer I am, I often respond with “product designer”. We like to think that what we do in the digital landscape is so good that it deserves to be perceived as tangible. Apple sells computers, that’s their product. What’s Facebook’s? A tool to stay in touch with people you meet. However, neither Apple or Facebook sells their product that way. Instead, they sell stories.
We shouldn’t limit the design of our product to just interface design or technology. We should design it to go beyond the digital landscape. This is going to matter because good design is no longer a differentiator — the secret is out. Products will need something else, something more and my bet is on storytelling.
The point is maybe I’m not a product designer. Perhaps I’m a storyteller. In fact, I must be because to be distinctive, consumers require us to sell them more than a digital product. The best companies sell stories.
I will attempt to illustrate the importance of storytelling but before I do, let’s get on the same page as to what I mean by storytelling.
…something everyone can understand and relate to, from investors and employees to friends and family. Something that is memorable, easily passed around, and well-received by even the least tech-savvy. — Ryan Glasgow, Every Startup Needs a Story
Now let’s explore why this is important using two examples, AirBnB and 500px.
AirBnB doesn’t see what they do as merely allowing their users to host each other. They see it as a story, an experience that will or could profoundly impact your life. Their story is that you’re not hosting a stranger but a friend. You’re not running a hotel or an inn but it’s like putting up a friend for the night. That’s a compelling story that has allowed them be hosting in 192 countries, with over 300K listings.
This is so important that they design it into their interface with features like a “guidebook” that allows you to create a guide for your guests. That’s the equivalent of my friend coming to town and crashing at my place. I’d say, “Hey, check out Davlo for a good drink and Cassanova is cool for lounging around and on Thursday you gotta go to Elbo Room.” Brilliant!
If they didn’t see beyond their product’s digital landscape then why bother if people are hosting and the numbers increasing? To me, AirBnB designs beyond the product. They create stories for their users and since their goal is to make money, they’re technically selling stories.
Some other great examples where stories sell product are Instagram, Lyft or American Girl.
Now here’s the opposite of AirBnB.
While browsing 500px I’m looking to purchase some really cool photos. I see some, I love them and I click buy. It costs $200. The standard page comes up asking for cc info. And so on. No extra effort to sell. It’s a beautiful photo but $200? Purchasing a photo is not a necessity, it’s a nice to have so how to you convince me to push that buy button?
To me, this is an opportunity for 500px to design beyond their product’s digital landscape by making it more than a digital transaction of money for photos. In a similar way to AirBnB, what 500px should do is sell stories. And to do so, they need their users to share those stories. The funny thing is that they’re perfectly situated to tell powerful stories that would move their product beyond its digital landscape. Here’s how…
When photographers opt to sell, 500px should design ways to encourage them to share meaningful stories about that photo.
Take the marvelous photo below for example…
What if the photographer not just gave information about this photo but told the story behind it. Did he meet these boys? What are their personalities? How old are they?
One rebuttal might be that photographers are already telling stories visually and the lack of story creates an air of mystery. That’s true but why am I still not pushing that buy button?
I’m sure photographers would agree that if they gave the backdrop on a photo then that photo is no longer random. It has meaning. In fact, photographers would love their own work, one more than the other because they know the story behind it. So to solve this, instead of asking for a ‘description’ which is often ignored or filled with weak content, simply asking for a ‘story’ will create more meaningful descriptions (Well, that’s one possible solve).
To clarify, the aim here isn’t to get well crafted stories — that’s taking it too literally. The aim is to share something that makes the photo feel more personal, because look around — the age of personalization is dawning upon us.
Designing isn’t always about the visuals. By merely replacing ‘description’ with ‘story’ a user’s frame of thinking will change — and so will the content.
Imagine, instead of buying some random photo, you’re buying much more, something that extends beyond a digital transaction. You don’t just buy a photo, you get a story you can share. These stories transcend the product from the basic transaction of selling a photo to a product that’s selling stories.
500px becomes the poster child for a digital product that sells much more than a photo. Why sell photos when you can sell stories. And if it works, it probably opens up a whole new business model for 500px by selling photo series.
If you don’t believe me, then take a look at this Coco Chanel video or this one on Kikkoman. Instead of blowing thousands on an ad, they blow it on telling a story about their history. How does this make you feel about their brand? It makes them more memorable to me. The American Girl doll is a great example. It’s a silly doll but it commands $110 not because of the product but because of the story told.
Successful brands don’t just sell their product, they sell stories and they often do it well. They’re looking beyond their own tangible landscape. Why aren’t we looking beyond our digital one?
What if we try to design beyond what our products do? I believe that when we say product designer in the future, we’ll really mean individuals who design stories for digital products. What do you think?
