WIN Workshop: Supercharge Innovation with Visual Storytelling

At times, as professionals in the innovation space we feel hard-pressed to constantly create. After all, to innovate is to introduce new ideas, methods, or products into a world where they previously did not exist. Whether it’s a newly established process or a different way of looking at a problem, innovation is not innovation until you bring something original to the table.

WIN partnered with Tanvi Kanakia and Cristina Morales of Design Nudges to explore how visual storytelling helps innovators unlock their creative potential. Dive into our key takeaways below and consider adding this skill to your toolbox for tackling future innovation challenges.

What’s the Value of Visual Storytelling?

Visual storytelling is the process of mapping out your ideas in illustrative formats - from simple figures (and their expressions!), to various frames and containers, to arrows as connectors between concepts. With visual storytelling, you can:

• Bring clarity to the confusion by breaking complex ideas down

• Align cross-functional teams by establishing a common understanding

• Identify opportunities and make new connections

• Engage people through impactful communication

• Create the future by making the abstract real

In innovation, you’re often working through multi-faceted problems, with teams of diverse backgrounds and perspectives, to uncover tangible solutions. Cliché as it may be, they say “a picture is worth a thousand words” for a reason, and workshop participants got to see for themselves as Tanvi walked through a live demo of how she depicts ideas with simple but impactful illustrations.

Visual Storytelling is for Everyone

Regardless of your artistic prowess, visual storytelling is accessible to everyone. The goal is not to recreate Van Gogh’s Mona Lisa, but rather to communicate your point to your audience.

Participants were able to try for themselves by illustrating their morning coffee or tea routine, which they then shared in small groups. For one WIN member, an “Aha!” moment emerged when she realized it was more straightforward to illustrate her emotions rather than the process itself, distilling her message to its most impactful rendition.

“Ultimately, ask yourself: What am I trying to communicate here? What is my audience really interested in?”

Ultimately, ask yourself: What am I trying to communicate here? What is my audience really interested in? Let the answers to those questions guide what you choose to illustrate.

Remote Visual Storytelling in a COVID-19 World

Visual storytelling can be used for planning (including this WIN workshop!), communicating concepts, mapping ecosystems and networks, illustrating customer journeys, and more. For Cristina, who works at an innovation company, communicating via simple sketches drastically speeds up communication and reduces work time, while ensuring stronger alignment.

As we search to close the gap between in-person meetings and Zoom calls, visual storytelling presents a new avenue for self-expression. In this remote-first landscape, you can share notes in a visual format, use it as an ice breaker in a team meeting, and even incorporate visual elements into your Powerpoint presentations with the Draw function, which includes a library of iconography and pencil tools to digitize your ideas. Tanvi herself introduced visual storytelling to her team with visual notes, gradually demonstrating their value until they started asking her to "spin presentations around in her way.

Tools like Zoom’s whiteboard function, Miro, and Kumu are also great options. Or you can go old school and break out the post-it notes. Either way, visual storytelling is an accessible way to share your ideas to unlock more creativity and innovation.

Thank you so Cristina and Tanvi for facilitating this timely and thoughtful workshop, and a huge thank you to our WIN community for your participation and support.

Editorial: Emily Liu

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