Why We Need Storytellers at the Heart of Product Development

In an insightful April 14th, 2011 post to UX Magazine, user experience designer Sarah Doody asks "who creates your product story?"

"If you want your product to be heard by consumers, it must be rooted in a story that consumers can emotionally connect with."

"Before a technologist writes a line of code, or a marketer writes a line of copy, or a designer creates a single wireframe or design, you have to establish the story that your product is going to tell."

According to Ms. Doody: "A product is more than an idea, it's more than a website, and it's more than a transaction or list of functionalities. A product should provide an experience or service that adds value to someone's life through fulfilling a need or satisfying a desire. The ultimate question then becomes: who identifies that value? After the executive or stakeholder identifies the initial idea, who in the organization ensures that the product and experience deliver value to the user? Maybe it isn't the product manager, marketer, technologist, or designer; perhaps what we need is a new role: the product storyteller."

Thanks to Brendan Howley for the link.

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