“Story First: Crafting Products That Engage” by Donna Lichaw—An Event Apart video

While many of us seek out the newest and shiniest tools, methods, and processes to build more successful products and services, we often overlook one of the oldest, leanest, most effective tools out there: the structurally sound story. In the moment, we humans experience everything as if it were a story. The better the story, the more likely we are to want to use a product, continue to use it, pay to use it, and recommend it to others.

In this presentation captured live at An Event Apart Denver, Donna Lichaw (@dlichaw) brilliantly explains how taking a story-first approach to product design and development helps you build more successful websites, apps, campaigns, and services that excite your customers, draw them in, incite them to action, and keep them engaged over time.

Donna is a certified professional coach, speaker, and author. She has spent 20 years at the forefront of technology helping leaders at places like Google, Apple, Logitech, Capital One, Central Park Conservancy, and WNYC develop successful products and services and now uses that same passion and approach to develop successful people—one story at a time. You can learn more about her process in her book, The User’s Journey: Storymapping Products That People Love.

Enjoy all the videos here in An Event Apart’s library. There are over 30 hours of them—all absolutely free! For more insightful presentations by the industry’s best and brightest, come to An Event Apart—three days of design, code, and content for web, UX, and interaction designers. And for your free monthly guide to all things web, design, and developer-y, subscribe to The AEA Digest.