What is it?
It’s time to tear up the rulebook on how we tell our stories. Narrative no longer flows one way - from writer to reader, artist to viewer, creator to consumer. It’s time for interactive storytelling.
From Volkswagen’s Piano Staircase to the growing interactive film library on Netflix, brands are using the idea of “interaction” to draw people into their stories, delivering deeper connections in the process.
Take the massive success of role playing games (RPGs) as precedent. They attract millions of players worldwide (in physical or digital forms). You define who you are, where the story takes you and who you work with along the way, making each experience personal and unique, but deeply connected. (As Simon Barratt said at the Storytelling safari, “People are the multiplier to any experience”.)
“When we play as a character, we experience their emotions and dilemmas from their point of view. But the choices we make for them remain very personal. By stepping into someone else’s shoes, we understand them better, and we learn about our true nature in the process. We grow, thanks to empathy.”
Caroline Marchal, Founder and Creative Director at INTERIOR/NIGHT
Why should I care?
The movement from one-way communication towards a more interactive style of engagement opens up a new realm of possibilities to create connections and build bonds with supporters. Empowering them to explore and curate stories that answer their interests and motivations. These connections are more genuine, personal and fundamentally more likely to stand the test of time.
Technology has now developed to the point where creating and curating interactive storytelling is no longer cost-prohibitive for charities. Open source and no-code apps make designing these types of experiences easier and easier.
But the benefit of interactive isn’t just for the participant. Interactive storytelling is a channel to collect data and insight on your users in a truly reciprocal way. Empowering you to craft even more personalised narratives, and the user to experience a more engaging journey. Win, win.
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Empathy Through Storytelling
The Human Library is, in the true sense of the word, a library of people. By hosting events where readers can borrow human beings serving as open books, they’re able to have conversations they wouldn't normally have access to, in safe spaces where open discussion is encouraged. Every human book represents a group in our society that’s often subjected to prejudice, stigmatisation or discrimination because of their lifestyle, diagnosis, belief, disability, social status, ethnic origin etc.
Pollinator Park is a VR experience that imagines what our future would look like if bees and other insects stopped pollinating Earth. The experience is based on actual scientific research about the global decline of pollinator species. It’s designed to be educational as well as emotionally engaging, allowing you to move through the world and learn about various topics ranging from the importance of pollination, the impact it has on climate change, and what would happen if the process ever stopped.
Life in Darkness provides an immersive experience for people to explore and learn about the realities of the holocaust in a way that lets them unpack the story in their own time, and in their own way. Its creator hopes that by playing the game and experiencing the story, the user will become attached to the characters and be more keen to learn about the Holocaust and discrimination against Jews.
So what?
Crossing the divide of distance through storytelling is the holy grail of marketing. Unless you’re proximate or invested, some charity missions can be challenging to communicate or connect with. Enabling non-linear storytelling to let users explore at their own pace and to their preferences can create space and choice to approach difficult topics.
The Power of Simplicity
The Boat is a visually haunting scroll-based story experience. As you scroll down the page, the story combines text, audio, visuals and interactive elements to deliver an immersive experience. The boat sways in the water, lighting and thunder cracks overhead. The interactive component of this story makes it feel like you’re actually on a boat, in a large storm.
Movember’s ‘Unmute – Ask Him’ campaign was designed to highlight the fact that many men still feel the need to hide their feelings and are therefore not accessing the mental health support that they need. The videos are disguised as a series of “how to” tutorials, where a man takes the viewer through simple tasks, such as “how to make a soda can fishing rod”, and “how to fix a flat tyre”. While the subtitles mirror the men’s actions, when you unmute the video, you’ll hear a completely different story – about men who are beginning to show signs they are struggling.
Interactive stories aren’t just about words or pictures. Data visualisation can convey powerful narratives and empower supporters to dive deeper into the impact of their choices and journeys. Information is Beautiful, founded by David McCandless, is dedicated to helping people make clearer, more informed decisions about the world through visualisations based on facts and data.
So what?
Interactive doesn’t have to automatically equate to complicated. Focus on the elements of the narrative that are most compelling, or add a simple layer of animation to add depth and capture engagement.
No-Code Revolution
Varwin and EnageVR, two VR software companies that allow you to create educational programmes using no-code platforms- this means you can build out your world or experience, using visual tools instead if needing to be able to develop code.
Dorian is a platform empowering fiction writers and other storytellers to create their own games, through the power of no-code. Without coding, a writer can essentially design characters and backgrounds by choosing from a variety of visual assets, while using a flowchart-style interface to allow the writer to connect different scenes in the story and create player choices. Plus, collaborate on a story in real-time with other writers and contributors.
So what?
The barriers to creating these types of experiences have been lifted, making it a reality for all of us, no matter how untechy we are! Much like the swathes of website builders out in the market, the tools that you need are very much ready and out there for you to start taking advantage of.
So What?
1. EXPLORE - NON-LINEAR STORYTELLING:
What does your non-linear story look like? How can you let the reader unpack things in the way that works best for them? And what do you need to do to guide them on this journey?
2. REFINE - FOCUS & CLARITY:
Think about what is appropriate, and what really builds on the story you are telling in a genuine way. People crave interaction now more than ever, but is there one way that will work best for all of your audiences? Does your story lend itself to being user-defined, repositioned or rethought? Power comes in building relevance and association - what will really do this best for your message?
3. EXPERIMENT - WITH SIMPLICITY:
What are the small things we can do to begin building more two way, discovery-inspired interactions? Are there simple actions we can start to build into our communications that make sense for your organisation, and how can you test this quickly in the mark