# Design

Storytelling techniques in visual design. How to create compelling narratives that engage your audience?

Red Rocket TeamNov 14, 20244 min read

Marketers from different industries nowadays face similar tasks, such as increasing conversions, traffic, sales and, as a result, increasing the profitability rate of the business. To achieve such objectives, they use a variety of methods, including paid advertising, search engine optimization, banners, and even link promotion. However, sometimes, it is enough to show one interesting story to attract the attention of a large number of target audience.

For example, you can check out the human-centered design stories developed by the popular company Grammarly. They show their target audience different stories, depending on their interests. As statistics about storytelling show, such practices can increase the conversion rate of an advertising campaign by 30%. A great option for budget promotion, isn't it?

Scientists have found out that people better and more willingly perceive information in the form of stories. If that story is presented in the form of pictures, animations, videos, or visuals, user engagement doubles. Do you want to know more about how you can attract more attention from your target audience to your products, services, or advertising campaigns? This article will tell you how you need to develop and implement visual storytelling to improve your business performance.

What is visual storytelling?

Undoubtedly, many people immediately associate the term «storytelling» with copywriting, articles, publications, and text. However, text often takes a long time to absorb, and many people don't have the extra time to read a story. Therefore, marketers have started to use visual storytelling for business more and more often.

Visual storytelling in UX/UI design — a way of influencing the audience through narratives.

Stories are a universal way to tell about something important, boring, and complicated in simple language. By story, we mean a method of presenting information, not just texts. If a copywriter uses words and stories as storytelling tools, a designer uses interfaces.

Moreover, with the active development of artificial intelligence, it has become much easier for designers and marketers to come up with interesting stories that will help attract the attention of potential customers.

For example, we asked the most advanced version of ChatGPT 4o to create a narrative about a web designer. Check out the result in just a few seconds:

A young, talented UX/UI designer lived in a small town. He had a talent for creating functional websites that appealed to their minimalistic aesthetics. But deep down, he wanted to stand out among other designers, to show that his designs were not just harmonious but special. Deadlines were looming, but the designer never gave up the desire to give substance to his work. One day, he accidentally stumbled upon an article about storytelling on the Red Rocket website, which opened up new knowledge for him.

Certainly, this story can be tweaked, refined, and transformed into a visual format. This is one of the examples of emotional storytelling in design, which will allow users to better perceive information.

How does it work in UX design?

Stories featured on a website can cover a variety of topics and formats, from product and service reviews to company success stories. Let's take a look at some of the possible uses of storytelling on a website.

(01)

Product or service reviews. Tell the story of the development of your product or functionality. Show what problems you solve and why your product is better than others on the market. Break down key points of creation, research, design, and improvements to give site visitors an idea of your product's value.
(02)

Brand or company story. Provide a story about the creation of the company or brand. Talk about the goals, values, inspiration, and obstacles overcome. This will help establish an emotional connection with site visitors and convey your mission and uniqueness.
(03)

Customer reviews. Every second user reads reviews before placing an order. That's why you should provide real customer testimonials in a visual story format. Show how your products or services have brought value and benefit.
(04)

Charity and aid stories. You can present and post information on the website in the form of charity and aid stories that show the contribution and impact of an organization or brand on society or specific communities.

Now, you see that visual storytelling can be used in any niche for various purposes. The most important thing is to entrust the work to reliable specialists who guarantee excellent results. Where can you find professional web designers? Discover a selection of the best design agencies in Europe to apply for help creating UX storytelling.

5 tips on effective storytelling in UX design

We offer to move on to real tips that will help web designers create better visual narratives to increase user engagement. We have five recommendations that you should read and keep for yourself.

1. Less text and more pictures

Imagine yourself as an ordinary user who has arrived at your website. Which would you choose - to read a whole page of boring text or to look at a few pictures? Sure, looking at pictures, graphs and infographics will take you much less time than reading text.

However, you should replace text with pictures in stories if the image really conveys the whole meaning of the text. In simple words, if the essence of the image is completely the same as the text, you can replace it. This is especially true if you sell similar products or services and you need to show the differences between them in detail.

2. Animation may be a better solution than a static image

Animation is another tip you should know about UX storytelling techniques. For example, you need to tell your company's story in an interesting and short way. It is rich in facts and situations, it is important and should hook, convince the visitor that this brand can be trusted. Then it is better to tell about it through an animated video.

If there is no such opportunity - through illustrations and 1-2 sentences. This will be much more effective than a text with a large percentage of unnecessary water. In general, in recent years, 2D and 3D animation have been more and more often used by web designers. Many experts include this element in the list of the best UI/UX design trends in 2024.

3. Don't make the design monotonous

Imagine you need to show different ways of using a virtual product (application, service, logo). What solutions will be applied? Minimally it can be done by changing mockups. You can also change the position of objects on the screen (some on the left, then on the right, then in the center, etc.).

4. Each page has its own story

Virtually every website talks in detail about its history and provides statistics. This is a great way to show what you are competent at and why customers should come to you. However, a mistake many people make is to have a single story for all of the above items.

The right solution is to make a separate visual story for different pages. For example, for the «About Company» page, you can tell about the mission, goals, and target audience. For the «About Us» page, you can provide a story containing numbers and interesting statistics.

5. Use gamification elements

Another way to diversify storytelling in design is through interactive elements. Gamification is a tool that allows you to introduce game elements on a website or other design product. It allows you to engage the user or help him with something through the game - to better understand the essence of the product or services, to understand the settings, to register, etc.

Storytelling frameworks for design

Experts have developed certain templates for marketers and designers to help create compelling stories. Below, we want to tell you about the most common storytelling frameworks.

The Pixar pitch

This storytelling framework breaks down a narrative into six simple, sequential sentences: «Once upon a time…,» «Every day…,» «One day…,» «Because of that…,» «Because of that…,» and «Until finally…». It’s designed to convey a clear, engaging arc that captures both problem and resolution, making it ideal for structuring design stories that are easy to understand and resonate with audiences.

The hero's journey

The second storytelling framework for design we want to talk about focuses on a specific character. This framework, based on Joseph Campbell’s work, takes a character (or user) from an ordinary world into an adventure that transforms them. Divided into stages like «Call to Adventure,» «Trials and Challenges,» and «Return with Knowledge,» it’s a versatile tool for designs that aim to guide users through a journey of discovery or transformation. In design, this model helps portray the user as the hero, ensuring every interaction supports their progress and growth.

The three-act structure

Common in film and literature, this framework divides a story into Setup, Confrontation, and Resolution. The setup introduces the user’s context and goals, the confrontation presents obstacles, and the resolution provides a satisfying outcome. Using this structure in design storytelling enables a logical progression, guiding users through challenges while building towards a solution, which makes the experience feel cohesive and fulfilling.

Final thoughts

As you may have already realized, storytelling in design is an effective approach based on rules and principles that help clients stand out from the competition. It aims to create a clear and focused message that can attract and engage users. It is an important skill that is often possible for designers to apply in UX/UI.

Frequently asked questions

Why does a designer need storytelling?

Storytelling is something that allows you to simplify the presentation of information, remember it better, and engage faster and better. Storytelling is actively used by bloggers in sales funnels, by production studios to advertise their clients' services or products, and by designers when creating interfaces or motion videos.

Does storytelling have a certain structure?

Obviously, every story has a certain structure. However, it may differ depending on the storytelling framework. Usually, the structure includes points such as backstory, plot, main part, climax, and denouement.

What should I look for when creating visual storytelling?

For effective storytelling in UX/UI design, it is important to choose appropriate visual content. You should pay attention to choosing the right color palette, illustrations, photos, fonts, text, and animations.