Storytelling

in Product

Management

Summer 2016

David Skrobela

Founder, Context First

About Me

I started my career in product-related work as a

consultant, building and implementing web content

management systems and supporting infrastructure

for clients across multiple industries (Consumers

Union, Standard & Poor’s, Creative Artist Agency).

For the past 13 years, I’ve been focused on

education technology, managing the launch of

digital products at The College Board, Teach For

America, and Centris Group. I am currently running

a consulting shop, Context First, that helps

organizations with early-stage product concept

validation and business case development.

First, a Moment of Levity

"Storytelling is one of the dumbest new media

words of the decade - it sounds fancy and

means nothing yet gets thrown around

constantly.”

- @BillSimmons, twitter, May 3, 2016

OK, then does it really mean anything?

We’ve been telling and sharing stories since the dawn of time

Consistent research supports the power of stories to inspire, motivate, persuade, inform

From a very early age (2-3 yrs old) we use stories to start to make sense of the world

…..the short answer is YES

So how do we cut through the jargon?

It’s clear that storytelling has become, in 2016, a bit of a media and

marketing darling.

But that’s because it’s an incredibly powerful–and timeless–way to

connect, communicate and drive change. It’s trending because brands,

businesses and marketers have discovered that this powerhouse is also

good strategy.

“In an era when any one of us can create, publish and share anything

we choose, great storytelling has become the differentiator.”1

Pixar filmmaker Andrew Stanton famously compared storytelling to joke

telling. “It’s knowing your punchline, your ending, knowing that everything

you’re saying, from the first sentence to the last, is leading to a singular

goal.”1

1 - http://www.echostories.com/ (Fundamentals of a Great Business Story)

Putting this in the context of business

Storytelling continues to grow in business because it’s an

established and effective method of communication

When using storytelling in business, the most common

goals are to persuade, influence, and motivate your

audience

Stories are accounts of real or imaginary

events that engage the audience in a

purposefully direct and interactive

manner

The Power of Storytelling

So what makes up a good story?

Hero

Setting

Challenge or Conflict

Solution

KEY ELEMENTS

Why should we care?

What should we do?

How will we get it done?

QUESTIONS YOUR STORY

SHOULD ADDRESS

The CAR Framework

Context Action Result

What formats can we use to tell our

story?

Storyboards / Customer Journey Maps

Prototypes

Presentations

Blogs

Whitepapers

Videos

Data Visualizations

This all feels so right-brain..

While it’s true that storytelling typically

taps into to certain creative, social, and

emotional areas of the brain, there is

plenty of opportunity to integrate both the

analytical and inspirational

This is becoming especially true in the

emerging field of Storytelling with Data image source – © Miriam Gilbert | Storytelling with Numbers

After a presentation, 63% of attendees remember stories.

Only 5% remembered statistics.

Source: Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath (2007)

Data-driven storytelling

A complete, robust story can be told with a single (or a few) visualizations

Product managers increasingly are being asked to become data journalists

Source – Flowing Data, Nathan Yau

Basic Structure of Data Stories

Source – Miriam Gilbert, Storytelling with Numbers

Beginning (context) – Start

with a background and

point(s) of reference

Middle (discovery) – Explain

challenges, proposals for

change, and insights that lead

to confirm new solutions

End (conclusion) – Include

concluding statements,

recommendations, or

suggested next steps

Bringing it back to product work

Source – Sarah Doody | Knowing your users & their stories

Stories can help to clearly define the Why. Since it’s always critical to start here, stories are one of the most natural ways to start the conversation

As we move our teams through the What and How, we can continuously refer to our stories to help ensure alignment

Who is our story for or about?

Customers

Investors / Executives

Colleagues / Team

Members

Allows us to explore

the spaces our

customers and users

inhabit

Creates deeper

connection to the

addressable problem

and market

Helps them to

understand and truly

support the work

Using Stories To Promote The Product

Stories can be an important tool when we are pitching our

product (or a new idea for a product feature) to investors,

executives, colleagues, even customers

Using Stories IN Our Product

Here we use an individual’s

story to describe his

experience going to college

It helps to firm up the value

proposition of the product

(college search tool) and

engages a specific audience

(veterans considering

college)

Stories also important to create engagement in the product

Using Stories IN Our Product

Here we see an example

of how stories are deeply

embedded in the product

experience…in fact, they

are the primary means of

communicating to the

intended audience

Why is this so effective?

Visitors to the site are the ones sharing stories with other visitors to the site. They have

shared experience(s) and backgrounds. It is their stories that most effectively build

trust in the overarching content and messaging of the site.

Reference – youcango.collegeboard.org

Using Stories FOR Our Product Team

Motivating Current Team

Members and Colleagues

Build a story into your vision

statement; get people to “buy

in” via the story you tell

Use your own story or a

customer story to help reinforce

the “Why” behind a new feature

or release

Recruiting New Team Members

and Building the Brand

Stories can be a powerful tool

to build your team and the

reputation of your product

Where can I learn more?

TEDtalks

https://www.ted.com/topics/storytelling

Center for Digital Storytelling

http://www.storycenter.org

Harvard Business Review

https://hbr.org/2014/03/the-irresistible-power-of-storytelling-as-a-strategic-business-tool/

Lead With a Story

http://leadwithastory.com/

Storytelling with Data

http://www.storytellingwithdata.com/

Storytelling with Numbers

http://www.storytellingwithnumbers.com/

And because there’s a periodic table

for almost everything….

Source – designtaxi.com

THANK YOU!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/skrobela@daveskrobela