What D-School forgot to teach designers about storytelling, with Lyle Sandler

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In this episode we speak with Lyle Sandler. I met Lyle when he was CDO at Aon, the mega-insurance firm, and it was clear from the off-set that  he was a natural story teller.    As you'll hear, he doesn't think that he's a natural storyteller. He's learned tactics and religiously rehearses his stories so that they land and create the right impact.

Lyle has bottled 100 of these tactics in his new book  Universal Principles of Storytelling for Designers, which will help both Narrative Newbies and Tried and Tested Tale-Tellers to up their games.   

Enjoy.

About Lyle

Stories ignite design, and design inspires stories, creating a dynamic cycle that propels human progress and sparks innovation. Lyle is a storyteller and designer. 

The story/design connection became an "aha" moment during his undergraduate days at Hofstra University, where I shuffled between theatre, design, and anthropology, three disciplines that seemed to join forces effortlessly. His storytelling and design journey deepened at the American Film Institute's Center for Advanced Film Studies, art directing in Hollywood, crafting theatrical sets in New York, working in illustration, and  designed high-end window displays.

At Merrill Lynch, he redesigned how analysts communicated with the patrons of Wall Street, and at Goldman Sachs,  he pioneered UX and data visualization. He began to explore and create innovative techniques that enable humans to interact with large volumes of data efficiently, discerning hidden characteristics, patterns, and anomalies within dynamically changing information spaces (non-language, data-centric, progressive storytelling).

 Later, he co-founded Brew, a design and innovation consultancy that assisted organizations to think differently, innovate, and design unique consumer experiences.

His career has spanned global design leadership roles at NCR and Aon where he has applied design approaches to create impact and value; staying true to his  roots in storytelling and anthropology, ensuring that my designs and innovations always delivered meaningful value to the people they were created for.

Currently, as a consultant, he help organizations transform and grow through storytelling, design, and "storythinking" – powerful drivers for developing new forms of value in anticipation of future human needs.

Links:

David Foster Wallace: This is Water commencement speech. 

Learn more about Hitchcock's Production Director, Robert Boyle here.

Service Design YAP is developed and produced by the Service Design Network UK Chapter.
Its aim is to engage and connect the wider Service Design community.

• Episode Host: Stephen Wood
• Production Assistance: Jean Watanya