The XY&Z of Digital StorytellingDramaturgy, directionality and design

Peter Samis Tim SvenoniusAssoc. Curator, Interpretation Senior Content Strategist

Museums & the Web 2015 Chicago April 9, 2012

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, via http://www.vox.com/

As of 2013…

19 minutes per day of analog reading…

26 mins/day for box games, card games,

& leisure computer use including web

surfing…

And almost 3 hours for television…

“Part of me believes that if film had

been invented before the book,

books may never have happened.”

–Ken Taylor, Philosophy professor @ Stanford

So what are some implications for the

way we write stories online?

That first moment when the ground falls away…

More bait on the hook: animated data viz.

Moment of Truth

1. Since it was first published in 2012,

how many of you have read Snow Fall?

2. How many of you have finished it?

Speaking of

avalanches, our

attention, too,

gains velocity as

it moves down

the page.

X/Y content model

X = Browse

Y = Deep Dive

Avge Web page

visit: < 1 min.

80.3% of time

spent “above the

fold” –Jakob Nielsen, 2010, 2011

Will anyone reach

the end of the

article?

Or has attention-

deficit behavior

become our new

normal?

With publishers aiding

and abetting,

inserting diversions

along the way?

If so, why are we still telling stories in long columns of

text?

We now specialize in browsing.

Here’s the X-Y playing out in apps and books,

like exhibition catalogs.

Other Models: Matrices

And less time-based, random-access Grids

A vast landscape of teasers.

Retail becomes electric.

“Staff Picks” have turned into an invisible algorithm.

Aggregators offer stories loosely connected by rubric:

And display them in a pleasing, sequential manner…

We have moved into a world of

standardization, which has brought us

great boons:

• Search-Engine optimized

• CSS-conforming

• Cross-platform

• Mobile-compatible

• Plays well with aggregators

• Socially shareable

Is what we’re dealing with simply the

replacement of Flash by WordPress?

Has immersive interactivity become limited to

the world of games and big screen cinema…

…in the theater or at home?

Is it either full Fantasy or sober Journalism?

“Here’s to the crazy ones…”

“They’re not fond of rules.” –Apple ad

From creative improv to a “rappel à l’ordre”

Picasso, Portrait of Wilhelm Uhde, 1911 Picasso, Three Women at the Spring, 1921

Is that where we are today?

Recommender systems and endless browsing

are a weak substitute for deep contact.

There is a pent-up desire for new experience—

an adventure that seduces & draws us along.

Unlike the decay curve of weak ties, we seek a

story that revitalizes and renews our energy.

So if browsing has indeed replaced reading,

what are the implications for storytelling?

One proposal: The Met’s Artist Project

http://artistproject.metmuseum.org/1/walton-ford/

What will be an equivalent that

combines video, text, and image?

“The deepest z-axis

you can ever imagine

is in every artwork.”

–Bill Viola

Nantes Triptych

What we really seek is that elusive Z-

axis, taking us right to the heart of our

attention—

—where it meets the artist’s intention.

Stories where the impetus to move forward is

encoded in the meeting of interface and

content.

“Navigation can become content in itself

& create a reflexive, liquid information

architecture.” -Harald Kraemer

We want intuitive access: the right

balance of

Control

Surprise

Visual

pleasure

Reward

Renewing & replenishing the energy invested.

Where the X of browsing allows for easy Y

plunges without sucking us into long-form text,

and yet delivers a Z of depth…

with economy.

A worthy goal.

Let’s try it.

Thank you.