Becoming Don Draper or: How I Learned to Tell a Story and Talk to Clients.
How many times have you flipped through the channels and started watching a movie right in the middle? The scene is engaging but you have to infer a lot in order to start making sense of the character’s motivations and why that sled’s name is so important. It’s easy to get sidetracked and place too much importance on minute details when you’re missing the big picture. Most of the time you just change the channel at the next commercial break and give up on understanding it all together.
Now picture a conversation with a client where you start explaining your design by talking about the fonts and colors but say nothing about what the user is trying to accomplish or why they even need to accomplish it in the first place? It’s not very likely that the client is going to fill in the blanks on their own and be able to focus on what you’re talking about.
When you lead off with fonts and colors you are dropping off your audience into the middle of your movie. You are forcing them to watch one scene and then color in the world around them. Whenever you are explaining something to anyone you have to tell a story. It doesn’t have to be worthy of an Academy Award, just make sure it doesn’t get a Razzie.
Let’s get started.
Every story needs a hero
It’s easy to assume that your design is the hero, but you would be wrong. The real hero of your story is the user, or the person experiencing your design. The hero of your story can often be your audience.
Establish your hero’s world
When you establish this world remember that the listener can be the hero. It’s important that the world you establish mirrors your audience’s reality. Understand their needs whether it’s from a business perspective or their perceived solution. Often times the hero thinks they know what they are looking for only to miss out on the solution right in front of them, a classic boy or girl next door scenario.
Every hero needs a villain
After you establish your hero and their world it’s time to introduce the villain. A villains doesn’t have to be a person, they can be a problem or a challenge that the hero must overcome. In context of your design, the villain is the problem you set out to solve. What dragon are you slaying? This is an important opportunity to prove to the client that you understand them and their needs. Show them you know who the enemy is.
The mentor and the artifact
Whether it’s Hagrid taking Harry wand shopping or Yoda unlocking the power of the force within Luke, every story has a mentor, and every mentor bestows upon the hero a magical gift. In your story you are the mentor and your design is the magical gift that, when placed in the hero’s hands, becomes the key to defeating their villain.
The training montage
No one understands the full power of their artifact immediately. Neo knew the matrix wasn’t real but he still couldn’t make the leap on the first try. As a mentor you must teach your hero how to wield their new powers. Walk them through the features and the scenarios that you have designed for, talk about fonts and colors. Address every detail and explain how it helps solve their problem. Show them there is no spoon.
Vanquish your villain
A story won’t be complete until your hero overcomes their problem. Show your audience that, with your help, you’ve got them off the island and they can return to their life, wiser and problem free.
Epilogue
While I’ve found this paradigm useful it’s only a framework. Switch it up, make the story your own. Let your hero’s unique circumstances shape your story so it feels authentic. Don’t be afraid to slip a few jokes in there to lighten the mood. Keep your audience engaged and sell your vision through.
You’re going to do great.
