Reflection-     Storytelling

Challenge & Selection The first tool I used was the tool of Storytelling. It can help in achieving a proper  understanding of a problem space among a diverse group of stakeholders before  attempting to identify and define possible solutions to the problem. This technique  can be used to approach potential customers, who are looking to switch to a different  product in the existing market or to a product in an entirely new market. I interned for an organization which wanted me to work on sales and for growth of customer base.  The base of sales and customer growth is by showing them how good the product is  and why do they need to use it. There was various ways to present your product to  your customer like just telling them about the product, increasing the interaction  factor, and many more. During the sales pitch I used my story telling skills instead of  going the traditional way. Hence the result difference was easy to be seen. The sales  pitch went from creating the illusion that people have the product and how it has  brought changes to their lives by comparing it the scenarios when they didn’t have  the product.

Application I start the process by creating a strong story which will feel relatable to the people  belonging to similar age group, economic group (lower, middle, upper), or some  other type of factor. To develop a strong character, I will draw inferences from any  existing problem (that our product resolved). The story may show that our product  can easily resolve the issue they are facing. If feasible, back the story with a live  demonstration of the product. So that people can see how useful the product is, then  collect feedback from the people. The feedback helps to reinforce the notion that  every service – even an internal service – has customers with whom the service  provider interacts and internal processes that enable the organization to provide the  service.  For the activity, I divide the story into 3-4parts, starting from introduction, then  heading to issue recognition/realization, then how it can be resolved, and end it  with the description of the solution we are offering. Then I collect data from the  users regarding the product. Post that compiling the data records and find out the  commonalities in the insights of each group.

Insight & Approach What I have learned from conducting this exercise with my group is that while the  approach is important for reinforcing the understanding of the problem we are  working to solve (increasing the number), the more valuable aspect of the activity is  the shared insights and shared learning that occurs while we are working to define  their problem space. The story provides the diverse group of stakeholders a reference  point for discussion that allows them to share their perspectives and dwell deep into  their newly awaken needs. While we could create a story from a blank slate in a

collaborative manner, starting with a person who is currently facing an issue with a  product s/he is using and s/he is looking for a better option. People can quickly  identify where they are in the story – or if they are missing – and can more quickly  gain new insights about relationships between key entities instead of taking time to  identify them. They can also identify variables in the problem space – that is, it helps  them to identify what they don’t know, in what areas they need to obtain information  or data to provide the values for the variables. Since I discovered that the most  valuable aspect is the shared insights and learning, next time I would use the  storytelling activity as a starting point for a series of design thinking activities. Then  the collect a combined feedback can serve as a reference tool throughout the work.

