On Telling Stories

People who know me know I’m kind of annoyingly anecdotal when I talk. I don’t want to get into what makes a story well told, because I’m not a trained storyteller. My take on anecdotes is 100% vibes-based. So what makes me want to tell stories?

First off, the field I work in. Designing user experiences is straight-up storytelling. Told through symbols, words, colors, sizes, positions, interactions, etc., UX design pushes me to write something memorable. That’s why I spend hours a day writing, reading, thinking, and reworking stories.

Months ago I went to a design conference. One speaker there dropped a term that’s been squatting in my head ever since: wowness. He defined wowness as the designer’s ability to make something not just usable and functional, but actually awe-inducing. Giving an event a chance before it happens

Some folks say I’m over-enthusiastic. To me, everything is the BEST thing ever. It’s not fake or over-the-top I’m just giving the future a chance to be legit amazing. Like, if a vending machine gives me two snacks by accident? In that moment? Peak life.

The biggest difference between kids and adults here is that kids can still feel surprise. And in my opinion, surprise is one of the most powerful emotions if you want to get and direct attention. Too many people are too deep in their routine to be surprised by anything anymore.

Great stories are everywhere. Whether they get remembered depends on how you tell them. Going to the grocery store can be an epic tale if you live it with imagination and tell it with hype.