Applying design thinking to storytelling
It’s important to begin any storytelling project with intention. Before you start making things, you should have a clear sense of whom you’re trying to reach, what you’re trying to say, and the scope of your project on all platforms.
I've worked on two guides designed to help storytellers find clarity and work with purpose: The Project Blueprint and the Hypothesis-Driven Design Guide.
The Project Blueprint
The Project Blueprint is an editorial planning tool, informed by principles in human-centered design that insist on building your product around the user and their needs. The blueprint helps creators focus their storytelling idea around 1-2 audience types and provides a framework to outline what their project is (and isn't) about. I co-created this version (PDF and Google Docs) with NPR's Creative Director, Liz Danzico, in 2018.
The blueprint remains the guiding document in the NPR Story Lab and Next Generation Radio workshops for emerging storytellers. It has helped shape successful podcasts and radio series, including the Peabody-award-winning 74 Seconds by Minnesota Public Radio.
I've led Project Blueprint-related training for NPR member stations, the Lab at OPM, iDigBio, and others. And I've heard from folks who have used its framing and questions to craft grant applications, content verticals, and more.
Ann Handley, the marketing pioneer, even featured it in her popular newsletter.
“NPR's storytelling blueprint is GREAT for planning long-form content projects. I particularly like Section 4, which asks you to distill ideas into a Mad Libs-style statement of whom this is for and what need it meets. Use it for team brainstorming, or for fleshing out your big idea.” — Ann Handley
The Hypothesis-Driven Design Guide
My experience with the Project Blueprint informed how I approached editing the Hypothesis-Driven Design Guide later in 2018.
The massive playbook was created by Wesley Lindamood, an interaction designer at NPR. The guide essentially reveals the "secret sauce" behind some of NPR's most ambitious storytelling projects, like Planet Money Makes a T-Shirt, the 2016 Election fact checks and analysis, and an immersive story about the aftermath of Ebola in Liberia.
I worked closely with Wesley to structure the guide in a way that made it accessible to folks with varying expertise, removed jargon, and helped develop the launch plan. It has been well-received by digital teams in and outside of journalism and lauded for its transparency.