Originally presented at SXSW 2012, R/GA Creative Director David Womack explains what makes an experience—any experience—compelling. A well–told story transcends any particular medium and this presentation focuses on principles of narrative—such as plot, setting, and point–of–view—as they apply to designing digital products, websites, social media, and apps, including why some digital experiences take off while others fizzle, how to define systems without using site maps, and innovative uses for user journeys.

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2. @DAVIDJWOMACK
#sxsw #stories
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5. tension
time
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6. tension
introduction
time
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7. complication/
tension
conflict
introduction
time
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8. climax
complication/
tension
conflict
introduction
time
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9. climax
complication/
resolution
tension
conflict
introduction
time
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10. SLEEPING: 7.3 HOURS
WORKING: 7.8 HOURS
CONSUMING SCREEN-BASED STORIES: 8.3 HOURS
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13. eCOMMERCE: EARLY DAYS
tension
Wow! I’m
shopping on
the internet
time
Proprietary & Confidential. © 2012 R/GA All rights reserved.

14. eCOMMERCE: EARLY DAYS
Do they have
tension
anything I might
want to buy?
Wow! I’m
shopping on
the internet
time
Proprietary & Confidential. © 2012 R/GA All rights reserved.

15. eCOMMERCE: EARLY DAYS
Let’s try this
out
Do they have
tension
anything I might
want to buy?
Wow! I’m
shopping on
the internet
time
Proprietary & Confidential. © 2012 R/GA All rights reserved.

16. eCOMMERCE: EARLY DAYS
Let’s try this
out
Do they have
Did they steal
tension
anything I might
want to buy? my credit card
number?
Wow! I’m
shopping on
the internet
time
Proprietary & Confidential. © 2012 R/GA All rights reserved.

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26. eCOMMERCE
I’ll buy it!
55 gallons
is this the lube
tension
doesn’t go as
I’m looking for? far as it used to
I need a lot of
lube
time
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27. eCOMMERCE
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28. eCOMMERCE and telling a
story about it
by choosing
something
and I want to see
unexpected
how you respond
I want to tell
you something
about myself
Proprietary & Confidential. © 2012 R/GA All rights reserved.

29. • Create a review
• Rate a review
• Most recent review
• Most helpful review
• Tag this product
• Create a forum
• Discussions in the current forum
• Lists that mention this product
Proprietary & Confidential. © 2012 R/GA All rights reserved.

30. 183 EPISODES
1951/1957
100%
0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
CHARACTERS
Carlos A. Scolari - University of Vic / University Pompeu Fabra:

31. 62 EPISODES
2004/2007
100%
0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
CHARACTERS
Carlos A. Scolari - University of Vic / University Pompeu Fabra:

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33. 1. Reduce
2. Organize
3. Time
4. Learn
5. Differences
6. Context
7. Emotion: More emotions are
better than less.
8. Trust
9. Failure
10. The one
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34. ROMANCE
emotion
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35. ROMANCE
they hook up
they have an
arguement
main characters
meet each other and live
happily ever
after
we meet the
main characters
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36. ROMANCE: ECOMMERCE
we make a
but there are a purchase
lot of similar
products
we find the
product on and live
amazon happily ever
after
we search for
a product
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37. ADVENTURE
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38. ADVENTURE
hero
hero triumphs
hero loses
wins and we live
they fight
hero loses happily ever
after
we meet hero
and villain
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39. GAMES
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40. TIME WARNER CABLE
cable
installed
wait a month
service
put on hold sucks
want to get
cable
Proprietary & Confidential. © 2012 R/GA All rights reserved.

41. MOST NEW TECHNOLOGY
cool
let’s try it out I tell my
friends
this looks
interesting
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42. MOST NEW TECHNOLOGY
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43. MOST NEW TECHNOLOGY
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44. SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS
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52. ROMANCE
then I met you
now I’m happy
emotion
I was
lonely
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53. ROMANCE
then I met you
[setting]
now I’m happy
emotion
I was
lonely
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54. SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTS
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63. THANK YOU
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