Refecton – Storytelling

From waitng room to living room – re-designing our theater’s lounge

Challenge

In my job as a Controller in a theater, I am ofen faced with a variety of problems caused by artstc, technical and administratve processes and their interacton. While working on the backstage side is already very requiring, the management ofen does not put emphasis on the customer side and just lays down rules without having listened to the users. But partcularly these ofen go through a complex process reaching from buying a tcket untl leaving afer the show combined with the recommendaton to others or getng teased to other shows. In that process it is especially important how they feel in the house before the show and how their feelings are aferwards. When I speak with my colleagues we ofen talk about productons, but rather less about the building and its opportunites. They look for strategies to enhance the atmosphere for VIPs having special evenings at the theater, but never about the feelings people have in general in that building.

When I young, going to the theater was always linked to seeing my heroes and I enjoyed that special atmosphere. As I now also have my profession in the theater, I needed to re-think about what makes that locaton so special. I wanted to focus on how we can grasp the customers' needs  and especially how we can enhance the theaters' lounge.

Selecton

That is why I decided to dedicate a certain percentage of my work to think about what our customers need when they visit the theater. While taking the “Design Thinking” Course with Shailesh Kumar, I got inspired by how valuable customer insights are. In Week 2 of the course, the presentaton of the tool “Storytelling” showed how an inspiring story can motvate the listeners to start a refecton, to start thinking about the subject. As my colleagues in the theater are ofen very busy and do not fnd any tme to come up with new projects or think out of the box. From my point of you, I needed some input for our theater's lounge redesign. That is why I decided to tell a story: I wanted them to get inspired, think and share their thoughts with me to help me to solve my problem and come up with ideas for our theater lounge. As I wanted to get some intense input, I decided to do a face-to-face situaton.

Applicaton

My frst interview partner was a young colleague working as a theater manager. As I told her my story – my connecton to this building, how I see and feel it – she answered that she was in theaters from her birth on. Her parents were full-tme working there, so they took her to every rehearsal or to the bar in the evenings. She practcally had her own kid’s corner. Theater was her home she told me. And she added: “In the theater, I could live with my parents more intensively than in our empty apartment. Theater was my living-room.” This word got fxed in my head. Theater as a living room. She could not experience her family life at home, so she re-defned the theater to be a living room.

Insight

This was a special moment for me and even for her. She refected her job as a theater manager by saying: “Maybe I need to sometmes think about the theater as I thought before and see my job environment as a huge playground where I can feel comfortable.”

And for me, my eyes got opened for a new thinking about the theater environment and especially the theater lounge. I could start to think broader. Customers have very high barriers by thinking “maybe I am not dressed appropriately” or they are afraid of certain rules of etquete. But I asked myself what’s wrong about feeling “at home”, even in a theater? It’s not behaving inappropriately, it’s just feeling more comfortably. So I could think about what people do when they enter their own home and living room.

Especially the interacton with this colleague gave a perfect kick of for the whole process of idea generaton. The whole process was heavily valuable for emotonal ideas, as it triggered the personal feelings of the people. So the storytelling tool worked out perfectly for me. For this problem size, it helped a lot, and next tme I will combine it to other tools, like visualizaton, to gain deeper insights in customers' minds. But storytelling helped me to focus on the redesign of the theater lounge and were then shaped into strategies.

Approach

We worked out the idea of the living room and created a mult-functonal space for various actvites. It contains food spaces as well as recreaton and conversaton areas in which the introductons can take place. Besides, we built up a working space where students can study in a peaceful atmosphere during the day. As a side efect we can gain them as potental theater visitors.

We succeeded by serving diferent needs like recreatng, talking and having food. By storytelling we could broaden the problem and understand the theater as a living room in which all these actvites are possible in parallel. The tool made these ideas accessible and realizable. In the past we have been reluctant about doing partcular things as we did not want to lose customers. But now I know that Storytelling can open the eyes of both sides. Customers maybe cannot tell what they are missing, but they probably did not feel comfortable. By talking to certain people, I could link the customers' problems to a larger purpose and put their unanswered needs into strategies and redesigned the whole space on its emotonal side. For further steps, the other tools like Visualizaton and Mind- Mapping are surely adequate methods. I’m looking forward to try these out to broaden my expertse in Design Thinking techniques.

This will not be my last storytelling project, as I realized my role as a learning mind and gained a powerful new instrument: to simply talk and listen to other people.


Refecton – Storytelling From waitng room to living room – re - designing our theater ’s lounge Challenge In my job as a Controller in a theater , I am ofen faced with a variety of problems caused by artstc , technical and administratve processes and their interacton . While working on the backstage side is already very requiring , the management ofen does not put emphasis on the customer side and just lays down rules without having listened to the users . But partcularly these ofen go through a complex process reaching from buying a tcket untl leaving afer the show combined with the recommendaton to others or getng teased to other shows . In that process it is especially important how they feel in the house before the show and how their feelings are aferwards . When I speak with my colleagues we ofen talk about productons , but rather less about the building and its opportunites . They look for strategies to enhance the atmosphere for VIPs having special evenings at the theater , but never about the feelings people have in general in that building . When I young , going to the theater was always linked to seeing my heroes and I enjoyed that special atmosphere . As I now also have my profession in the theater , I needed to re - think about what makes that locaton so special . I wanted to focus on how we can grasp the customers ' needs and especially how we can enhance the theaters ' lounge . Selecton That is why I decided to dedicate a certain percentage of my work to think about what our customers need when they visit the theater . While taking the “ Design Thinking ” Course with Shailesh Kumar , I got inspired by how valuable customer insights are . In Week 2 of the course , the presentaton of the tool “ Storytelling ” showed how an inspiring story can motvate the listeners to start a refecton , to start thinking about the subject . As my colleagues in the theater are ofen very busy and do not fnd any tme to come up with new projects or think out of the box . From my point of you , I needed some input for our theater 's lounge redesign . That is why I decided to tell a story : I wanted them to get inspired , think and share their thoughts with me to help me to solve my problem and come up with ideas for our theater lounge . As I wanted to get some intense input , I decided to do a face - to - face situaton . Applicaton My frst interview partner was a young colleague working as a theater manager . As I told her my story – my connecton to this building , how I see and feel it – she answered that she was in theaters from her birth on . Her parents were full - tme working there , so they took her to every rehearsal or to the bar in the evenings . She practcally had her own kid ’s corner . Theater was her home she told me . And she added : “ In the theater , I could live with my parents more intensively than in our empty apartment . Theater was my living - room . ” This word got fxed in my head . Theater as a living room . She could not experience her family life at home , so she re - defned the theater to be a living room . Insight This was a special moment for me and even for her . She refected her job as a theater manager by saying : “ Maybe I need to sometmes think about the theater as I thought before and see my job environment as a huge playground where I can feel comfortable . ” And for me , my eyes got opened for a new thinking about the theater environment and especially the theater lounge . I could start to think broader . Customers have very high barriers by thinking “ maybe I am not dressed appropriately ” or they are afraid of certain rules of etquete . But I asked myself what ’s wrong about feeling “ at home ” , even in a theater ? It ’s not behaving inappropriately , it ’s just feeling more comfortably . So I could think about what people do when they enter their own home and living room . Especially the interacton with this colleague gave a perfect kick of for the whole process of idea generaton . The whole process was heavily valuable for emotonal ideas , as it triggered the personal feelings of the people . So the storytelling tool worked out perfectly for me . For this problem size , it helped a lot , and next tme I will combine it to other tools , like visualizaton , to gain deeper insights in customers ' minds . But storytelling helped me to focus on the redesign of the theater lounge and were then shaped into strategies . Approach We worked out the idea of the living room and created a mult - functonal space for various actvites . It contains food spaces as well as recreaton and conversaton areas in which the introductons can take place . Besides , we built up a working space where students can study in a peaceful atmosphere during the day . As a side efect we can gain them as potental theater visitors . We succeeded by serving diferent needs like recreatng , talking and having food . By storytelling we could broaden the problem and understand the theater as a living room in which all these actvites are possible in parallel . The tool made these ideas accessible and realizable . In the past we have been reluctant about doing partcular things as we did not want to lose customers . But now I know that Storytelling can open the eyes of both sides . Customers maybe can not tell what they are missing , but they probably did not feel comfortable . By talking to certain people , I could link the customers ' problems to a larger purpose and put their unanswered needs into strategies and redesigned the whole space on its emotonal side . For further steps , the other tools like Visualizaton and Mind- Mapping are surely adequate methods . I ’m looking forward to try these out to broaden my expertse in Design Thinking techniques . This will not be my last storytelling project , as I realized my role as a learning mind and gained a powerful new instrument : to simply talk and listen to other people .