Role 7: The Storyteller
Based on my consulting and teaching experience, service designers perform seven critical roles on complex, multi-faceted innovation projects: The Empathizer, The Sensemaker, The Creator, The Maker, The Navigator, The Storyteller, and The Servant Leader (Bau, 2013, 2020). For the sake of brevity, each role is explained using three capabilities. For each capability, the service designer carries out specific activities, applies specific methods and tools, and makes specific deliverables/assets.
Let’s take a deep dive into the role of The Storyteller
Three core capabilities to build and master:
Crafting, dramatizing, and telling the right stories (to create shared meaning and drive action)
Collecting, curating, and sharing the right stories
Defining and developing the right ways to engage and interact with audiences
Four valuable toolkits to dip into:
Format: Author(s) > Project phase(s)
Lupton (2017) > Action + Emotion + Sensation
IDEO (2020) > Implementation
LUMA Workplace (2010) > Making
Hines & Bishop (2015) > Acting
Eight useful methods and tools to apply (not exhaustive by any means):
Narrative Arc
Hero’s Journey
Rule of Threes
Emotional Journey
Concept Poster
Video Scenario
Elevator Pitch
Design Fiction
References
Bau, R. (2013, October). What it takes to become a superb service designer. SX 2013 [Adaptive Path’s Service Experience conference], San Francisco, CA.
Bau, R. (2020). Service design to the rescue. The critical roles service designers play in organizational change. Touchpoint, 11(3), 74–79.
Hines, A. & Bishop, P. (2015). Thinking about the future. Guidelines for strategic foresight (2nd ed.). Hinesight.
IDEO. (2020). Design Kit.
LUMA Workplace. (2020). Methods.
Lupton, E. (2017). Design is storytelling. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
8/10
