Visual Storytelling Techniques

Designing Better User Journey Maps (+ Figma/Miro templates). Helpful guides and starter kits to design effective journey maps that generate insights ↓ ✅ We create user journey maps to visualize user’s experience. ✅ Their purpose, however, is to generate meaningful insights. ✅ We start by choosing a lens: current state vs. future state. ✅ Then, we choose a user who experiences the journey. ✅ We capture the situation/goals that we are focusing on. ✅ Next, we list high-level actions users are going through. ✅ We start by defining first and last stage, and fill in-between. ✅ You might start from the end to explore alternative routes. 🚫 Don’t get too granular: list key actions needed for next stage. ✅ Add user’s thoughts, feelings, sentiment, emotional curves. ✅ Add user’s key touchpoints with people, services, tools. ✅ Map user journey across mobile and desktop screens. ✅ Transfer insights from other research (e.g. customer support). ✅ Fill in stage after stage until the entire map is complete. ✅ Then, identify pain points and highlight them with red dots. ✅ Add relevant jobs-to-be-done, metrics, channels if needed. ✅ Attach links to quotes, photos, videos, prototypes, Figma files. ✅ Finally, explore ideas and opportunities to address pain points. As Stéphanie Walter noted, often user journeys start way before users actually start interacting with our product — so always consider non-digital touchpoints as well. Users might even need to consult other tools and services as they interact with yours, so keep track on them, too. Personally, I found it remarkably useful to map user journeys against specific mobile and desktop screens that designers have been working on (Spotify model). Not only does it visualize user’s experience *in* the product — it also maps key actions to key screens that the teams must relentlessly focus on. ✤ Useful resources: Guide To Customer Journey Mapping (+ Free Template), by Taras Bakusevych https://lnkd.in/e-emkh5A Complete Guide To User Journey Maps + Free Templates (Miro, PDF), by Stéphanie Walter https://lnkd.in/erheegtf End-To-End User Experience Map (Figma), by Justin Tan https://lnkd.in/eAV_h-hY Designing Interactive UX Maps, by Megan Brown Article: https://lnkd.in/ehrSi67B Template: https://lnkd.in/eZ6weHhp Ultimate Guide to Experience Mapping, by Joshua Zak, Mackenzie Mitschke https://lnkd.in/epN4zmAu User Journey Maps vs. Service Blueprints (+ Templates), by yours truly https://lnkd.in/e-JSYtwW Useful Miro Templates For Designers, by yours truly https://lnkd.in/eQVxM_Nq #ux #design

Visual content is helping brands connect with their audience on platforms like YouTube and Instagram but when people are posting visuals on LinkedIn, suddenly a lot of people have a problem with it? The fact is, LinkedIn is a professional platform, but the audience viewing the content is mostly the same. LinkedIn has evolved into a dynamic content hub that brands can leverage to run their influencer marketing campaigns. Here's why visual content now works like a charm on LinkedIn: 📌 Human Connection Visuals transcend barriers. They humanize your brand by showcasing faces, emotions, and real stories. People connect with people, so let your visuals introduce the incredible minds behind your business. 📌 Show, Don't Tell Visuals show what words might struggle to express. Give your audience a glimpse of your products in action, your team in collaboration, or your journey in visuals that tell a thousand words. 📌 Scroll-Stopping Power In a fast-scrolling world, visuals halt the thumb. Vibrant images and engaging videos make users pause, curious to explore the story behind the visual feast. 📌 Boosted Engagement It's a fact: visuals boost engagement. Think about it – a visually appealing post is more likely to earn likes, comments, and shares, igniting meaningful conversations around your content. 📌 Enhanced Recall Our brains love images! Research shows that we remember visuals more effectively than text. So, when you want your audience to retain your message, let a striking image do the job. 📌 Visually-Driven Platform LinkedIn itself is evolving into a visually-rich platform. From native video features to visual-friendly layouts, the platform is encouraging you to embrace visuals and stand out. 📌 Global Appeal Visuals transcend language barriers. No matter where your audience is, a powerful image or a compelling video can communicate your message without the need for translation. 📌 Conversion Catalyst Visuals paired with persuasive captions are a recipe for conversions. They entice your audience to take that extra step. Embrace the power of visuals on LinkedIn, and watch your engagement and influence soar to new heights. The future is visual, and your brand deserves to shine brightly in this landscape! #influencermarketing #linkedininfluencer

Some of the most important realities cannot be photographed. You can’t point a camera at stigma. You can’t capture inequality in a single frame. You can’t zoom into systems that quietly shape people’s lives. And yet, we keep trying to tell these stories with photos alone. That’s where illustration changes the game. Not because it’s more beautiful. But because it can show what the lens cannot. We’ve seen this across social impact work. When the problem is invisible, illustration makes it visible. A health campaign that can’t show stigma without exposing someone’s identity. A report trying to explain migration, where the real story sits in systems, not snapshots. A classroom breaking down complex ideas that don’t exist in physical form. Photos document reality. Illustration interprets it. And in this sector, interpretation is often what drives understanding. The most effective use of illustration does three things: – It simplifies without diluting – It carries emotion without exploiting – It creates familiarity without losing nuance If people cannot see the problem clearly, they won’t act on it. And sometimes, illustration is the only way to make that happen. Read the full blog here: https://lnkd.in/dY35icxC . . . . #visualstorytelling #socialimpact #communications #creativeagency #simitbhagatstudios

1–2 seconds to stop the scroll on platforms like Instagram or TikTok. Users form an opinion about a visual in ~50 milliseconds. Want to instantly grab attention? Great visual composition isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about direction. Content with compelling visuals gets 94% more views than text-only content. It leads the viewer’s eye, shapes how your message is understood, and makes your content impossible to ignore. 8 essential principles to level up your visual game: 1. Rule of Thirds Break your frame into a 3x3 grid. Positioning key elements along these lines or at their intersections creates a naturally balanced and pleasing layout. 2. Leading Lines Incorporate lines, whether architectural, natural, or implied, to pull the viewer’s gaze toward your focal point or guide them through the composition. 3. Balance Create stability by distributing elements thoughtfully. This can be perfectly symmetrical or more dynamic and asymmetrical, depending on the visual weight. 4. Focal Point Every design needs a clear star. This is the element that immediately captures attention and anchors the composition. Clear visual hierarchy can improve conversion rates by up to 30% by reducing cognitive load and guiding decisions. 5. Negative Space What you leave out matters. Space around elements enhances clarity, improves readability, and gives your design room to breathe. 6. Hierarchy & Scale Use size, placement, and proportion to signal importance. This helps viewers navigate your design in a clear, intentional flow. Applying hierarchy, contrast, and spacing can increase content comprehension by up to 70% 7. Contrast Play with differences, color, size, shape, or texture, to create emphasis and depth. Contrast is what makes elements pop. High-contrast CTAs (buttons, key elements) can increase CTR by 20–40% in digital campaigns. 8. Repetition Consistent use of shapes, colors, or patterns builds rhythm and cohesion, making your design feel unified and intentional. Consistent visual systems can increase brand recognition by up to 80% Final Thought Visual structure isn’t optional, it’s how we make sense of what we see. As creators, it’s our job to shape that experience. Master these principles, and your designs won’t just look good, they’ll communicate with clarity and impact. Explore references, study great work, and keep refining your eye. #beautybusiness #beautyvisuals #keyvisuals #communication

🎬Imagine this: You snap a photo. A few clicks later, it’s a cinematic 3D video. Sounds like magic? It’s Stable Virtual Camera by Stability AI. 🔹 No 3D skills needed 🔹 Multiple dynamic camera moves 🔹 Faster than traditional video editing Tonight, I decided to put Stable Virtual Camera to the test using an AI-generated image I created, which was featured in the gallery of Adobe Firefly — and the result? 🩵 A mind-blowing, immersive transformation! From static to cinematic—effortlessly. Who’s ready to try? 👀👇 Try it out with your own images—whether you're a content creator, marketer, or just exploring creative possibilities. The results will speak for themselves. Here’s how it can help: 🔹 Content Creators – Turn static images into engaging videos, perfect for social media, presentations, and campaigns. 🔹 Marketers – Create eye-catching, dynamic content that stands out, driving better engagement. 🔹 Educators & Storytellers – Bring visuals to life for more immersive learning experiences or captivating stories. What problem does it solve? 💡 No more flat, lifeless images. With Stable Virtual Camera, you can easily add depth and motion to your visuals, making them more engaging. ⏳ Save time and effort. Traditional 3D rendering takes forever, but with this tool, you can generate stunning 3D video content in minutes. 🎯 Boost engagement. 3D visuals attract more attention and drive better interaction on social platforms. Remember that this tool is a research preview and comes with a few limitations. ⚠️ Limited quality in certain subjects due to training data, including humans, animals, and dynamic textures. ⚠️ Limited quality in some highly ambiguous scenes and camera trajectories, including extreme views and collision into objects. #AI #3DVideo #contentcreation #marketing #storytelling

Human Behavior of the Day: The Visual Superiority Effect Ever wonder why you remember pictures better than words? That’s the Visual Superiority Effect in action. Humans are wired to process and recall images more effectively than text. Here’s what this means for communication, learning, and even money. In a study, participants were shown nouns, abstract words, or images for a split second each. Later, they were asked to recall as many as possible. The results? Images were recalled far better—47% vs. 29% (nouns) and 20% (abstract words). Visuals truly stick with us. Want to stand out? Use distinct images. According to Dual Code Theory, visuals are processed both visually and verbally, doubling their impact. Products or choices that look too similar are harder to distinguish—and easier to forget. Lessons for Life & Money: • Life: If you’re presenting ideas, teaching, or even motivating others, leverage imagery. People remember how you made them feel—and images create emotion faster than words. • Money: In finance, simple and intuitive visuals help clients understand complex ideas and build trust. A well-chosen image can say more than 1,000 words. Master the art of visual storytelling, and you’ll communicate with clarity, connection, and impact.

There’s something almost magical about watching an idea come alive on a big board or wall. I first experienced this in a workshop many years ago, when instead of PowerPoint slides and endless talking, a facilitator picked up a pen and began sketching what we were saying. Within minutes, the noise in the room turned into clarity. Arguments softened. Ideas grew. Patterns emerged. Suddenly, we weren’t just talking at each other, we were thinking together. That’s the power of graphical facilitation. I've found that visuals create shared understanding. When people see their ideas drawn out, it feels tangible, real, and owned. Visuals cut through complexity. A messy conversation can be captured into a simple diagram that shows how the pieces fit together. Visuals open space for creativity. They invite people to build, adapt, and challenge without getting lost in jargon. It’s not about art. Stick figures and simple shapes are enough. It’s about capturing meaning, making the invisible visible. Here’s where leadership comes in. Graphical facilitation is really powerful when you combine it with the right questions. imagine a leader asking: “What does success look like for us?” and the group sketch the answers into a shared picture. “Where are the bottlenecks in our system?” and mapping them visually with the team. “If this project were a journey, where are we on the map?” and drawing a road with milestones. "What do our customers really experience?" and mapping out the end to end customer journey. This simple combination does something slides never can: it invites people in. It shows them their voice matters, that leadership is not about having the answer but creating the conditions for the best answers to emerge. Try this to get started...: 1. Grab a flipchart or whiteboard. The bigger, the better. 2. Frame a powerful question. Something open, generative, and focused on possibilities. 3. Draw as you listen. Use arrows, boxes, circles, stick people nothing fancy. Capture the flow of ideas. 4. Step back together. Ask: “What do we notice?” or “What stands out?” This is where new insights often spark. 5. Co-create the next step. The group’s picture becomes the group’s plan. In times of complexity, speed, and change, leaders can no longer rely on being the person with the answer. The role has shifted: leaders must become facilitators of thinking, collaboration, and creativity. Graphical facilitation is a leadership skill for the future. It's a way to make ideas visible, align people quickly, and engage teams in solving problems together. And here’s the truth: once people have seen their ideas come to life on the wall, they rarely forget it. It creates ownership, energy, and momentum that words alone can’t achieve. If you want better collaboration, don’t just talk at your team. Draw with them. Ask the right questions. Sketch the answers. Make the invisible visible. You’ll be surprised at what emerges when the pens are in play!

Storytelling advice is failing designers. “Don’t use cookie-cutter portfolios.” “Tell a compelling story.” “Skip the double diamonds.” You hear this advice everywhere. But here’s what no one admits: Most designers don’t need more creativity. They need structure. Because without it, “storytelling” turns into: → Long intros that ramble → Screenshots without tension → Results with no link to actions → Lessons that feel tacked on And that’s not a story. That’s noise. So what’s the fix? Think like a screenwriter. Give your case study a narrative spine. I use something called the PEARL framework: → Problem → Epiphany → Action → Results → Learning Think of it like writing a Pixar short. Start with a hook (a real challenge you faced). Reveal a surprising insight (epiphany). Show how you acted on it (not just “I made wireframes”). Share results (tie it to real business/user value). Close with learning (what changed in you). Why does this work? Because it shifts the frame. You’re no longer showing your “design steps.” You’re showing your thinking. And that’s what gets you hired. Not the wireframes. Not the prototypes. Not the hi-fi polish. It’s the clarity in your arc. The confidence in your decisions. The growth in your reflection. Your story isn’t the process. Your story is the point of view you gained from it. So stop guessing what “good storytelling” means. Just PEARL it. P.S. If you found this helpful, visit the link in my profile to join my newsletter for daily career insights and get instant access to my top 50+ UX career guides. Structure or clarity — what’s harder to get right? Comment below 👇

Why Metaphors Make Brands Stick Red Bull could have said it gives you energy. But instead, it said: Red Bull gives you wings. That one metaphor made the brand legendary. Because metaphors connect the familiar with the unfamiliar. They take logic and wrap it in emotion. When you say your product is strong, you are descriptive. When you say your product is built like a rock, you are unforgettable. Metaphors make writing stick because people think in pictures, not in plain words. Here are a few simple shifts that turn flat lines into sticky brand stories: 1. Tech Product (Cloud Storage) Flat: Your data is secure with us. Metaphor: We’re the digital vault where your memories sleep like treasure. 2. Health & Fitness (Protein Shake) Flat: Our shake builds muscle fast. Metaphor: Every sip is like laying a brick on the fortress of your body. 3. Financial Services (Investment App) Flat: We help you grow your wealth. Metaphor: Think of us as the gardener who turns your savings into a flourishing orchard. 👉 Look at your last brand message. Can you replace one flat line with a metaphor that paints a picture? For more on building your storytelling muscle, follow me for more such content. #BrandStorytelling #Branding #MarketingTips #Metaphors #BrandMessaging

There’s nothing like the perfect image to communicate big ideas succinctly. So when I met Paul McCrorey, who develops visual strategies to convey complex ideas, I was super curious. So many companies struggle to visualize their offerings in a way that is instantly accessible to others. Instead they rely on words—many, many words. I suspected that Paul was a busy guy. I was lucky: Paul had some time available to meet with me and my teammates. What would Paul need to know to create a visual metaphor for S9? Could he help us convey our value proposition in a way that was instantly ‘gettable’? What we do at S9 sounds pretty simple: we use advertising to test new ideas and see if they work. The benefits are powerful, but the methodology is complex. We hoped Paul’s perspective would help us get out of our own heads. Paul has a gift for synthesizing. With a background in user-centered design, he’s comfortable shaping complexity into clarity. He’s also an engineer who loves illustration, and it shows in his empathy—he’s an amazing listener who grasped the crux of our methodology quickly. Paul started by meeting with our whole team and posing questions that captured the essence of our work. A few days passed and—BAM!—he came back with a visual that made so much sense that we dropped everything else and started riffing on it. Paul immediately grasped that S9's power lies in our multivariate experimentation. That means we’re testing strategy, positioning, creative direction, and targeting all at the same time. The learnings are fast and far-reaching: our clients learn which new strategy to move forward with, which audiences to target first, how to position the strategy, and what creative approach to use. They also learn what *not* to pursue. It’s a lot to explain. Paul’s metaphor expressed our work as a 3D landscape. ‘Mountains’ indicate the points at which the most potent combinations of concept, positioning, and audience targeting converge. It made instant sense as a way to convey the outcomes of multivariate testing. But there was another reason Paul’s metaphor made sense. In a ‘Clarity Report’ he prepared for us, which developed the metaphor further, Paul pointed out that we should lean harder into the ‘strategy testing’ aspect of what we do. Companies pay consulting firms millions for strategies based on assumptions that haven’t been tested in the real world. Our ad-based approach is behavioral—a way to validate and de-risk strategy empirically. Paul hit a chord. I’ve always thought of strategy as choosing which mountain to climb. Brands that choose flat terrain never rise above the status quo. Brands that choose too many mountains spread their resources too thin and often fail. Brands that find the right mountain—through imagination, experimentation, and empirical validation—are the big winners. 3D landscape, mountains, and terrain that tells a story—grateful to Paul for just the right metaphor!