Designing Powerful Narratives: Best Practices For Better UI/UX

A good story does not always start with “Once Upon a Time.” In movies, for instance, some stories are told from everyone’s perspective, while others let you see the story from the author’s point of view. There are stories that jump around the timeline, and there are stories told in chronological order. They can be dramatic, funny, sad, or come as a mix of different genres. When we hear a story, the first thing that hits our mind is our favorite book, movie, or Netflix series. That is because they all, in one way or another, have managed to leave an everlasting impression on us. But there is something that all stories have in common: they are created to draw us into the narrative.

Believe it or not, but this is exactly what people are expecting from UI/UX design these days. With numerous options available, they prefer to use products that can give them a good story paired with perceptive and/or even their own story. Want to create a site or PWA that brings in new paying customers? Then, you should take it into account and start looking for creative ways to use digital storytelling in your web or mobile application design. In this posting, we will walk you through some of the benefits of creating powerful narratives, and share some thoughts on how to implement this technique into your UI/UX design. So let’s get started!

What’s Digital or Visual Storytelling?

In a nutshell, visual storytelling (or visual narrative) can be defined as telling stories through the use of visuals. It pretty much does not matter how the story is told. Its only purpose is to draw attention.

That is why storytelling has become a powerful instrument for many websites and PWAs. It can be a real game-changer when creating sites for services or products, especially in highly competitive fields, such as ecommerce. Basically, digital storytelling allows you to push your product on customer’s faces. Why is that, you may ask? Well, scroll down to find out why.

Why Use Visual Storytelling?

By applying visual storytelling techniques to your UI/UX design, you can cut down on all those lengthy stories that you usually tell your users about your brand. Basically, what you do is you let visuals do most of the talking.
Giving your website or PWA a book-like feel allows you to easily suck users into your story from the start.
Finally, the smaller the screen size gets, the more concise you must be with the time to conversion. Storytelling can perfectly speed up this transition.

Benefits of Designing Powerful Narratives

Effective marketing

A visual narrative helps your brand stand out from the crowd by providing you with a comprehensive range of solutions and ideas to promote your services and products via advanced technologies, such as Internet of Things, VR, and AR.

More leads

Strong narratives help brands boost sales. This approach increases the chances of your customers making up their minds to purchase something from you.

Better engagement

Digital storytelling makes it easier for your visitors to understand the message you’d like to convey, empowering them to visualize themselves as a part of it.

Easier to remember

Using a strong visual narrative in UI/UX design enables visitors to remember your story far longer. The thing is that our mind is capable of analyzing and processing it much better than other forms of communication. That is why a story is highly effective in generating an impulse in our brains and attaching some meaning to what we see.

How to Implement Visual Storytelling in UI/UX Design

Provide seamless execution

Never overlook the QA process while blending the best practices into your design approach. Make sure your narrative has a profitable and positive impact on your auditory.

Be culturally sensitive and authentic

When it comes to implementing storytelling approaches for UI/UX design, the use of stock photos might compromise your product’s authenticity, and make your visitors feel less connected to it. In order to add uniqueness to your appearance, always design your visuals from scratch, and do not forget that different colors and symbols can mean different things to different people.

Match typography with visuals

Your typography and visual elements must go in sync with each other. Too much contradictions will make the users feel confused.

Use images that induce positive emotions

Avoid negative images! They distract the users from your story by scaring them or making them feel aggressive. So, even if you need to display something sad or negative, try to maintain a positive tone in order to keep users engaged till the end of the story.

Implement Human Elements

Support your brand’s story with stories of your customers to create a sense of trustworthiness and encourage new people to take action in favor of your business.

Build a strong first impression

Put the most impressive elements at the beginning of your visual story to bring maximum eyeballs to your product.

Keep it simple and interactive

An interactive and simple story with one-liner content is easier for users to remember and grasp than a too complex story.

Key Takeaways

As you can see, investing in the idea of designing powerful narratives can bring numerous benefits to your brand. Hopefully, tips covered in this article will help you craft a visual story that you can tell with confidence. At Loonar Studios, we suggest you to put the best efforts into understanding your target auditory, and create your story around it. And if you need any professional assistance, contact our UI/UX design team today. Good luck!

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