Journal.
Storytelling, with a flat white to go
A house move and change in my route into work in recent months had one unintended consequence – taking me away from my trusted branch of Caffe Nero, on Wormwood Street. A small and minimal coffee shop, with little more than a waist high bar to lean on, the team there are great – they quickly made me feel a regular, started making my single espresso as I pushed the door open and were real perfectionists about what they served up to me.
Since then, I’ve been jumping from Pret to Eat to Pret, tiring of coffee that was meant to be cappuccino, but served as latte; meant to be double, but single; meant to be skinny, served as, well…, whatever they grabbed hold of first.
Thanks to Taylor St Baristas, my faith in coffee houses has been restored, and then some. It’s a small chain of Aussie baristas, channeling the spirit of the Melbourne coffee bars I fell in love with years ago, with an attention to detail, their craft but most of all their customers that really made my simple ordering of a flat white there an experience.
‘In our view, the barista is the most important thing standing between you and a good coffee. Like a chef, the barista’s knowledge, skills and techniques critically affect the quality of the product he’s preparing.’
(from the Taylor St Baristas website)
To watch the guys at Taylor St go about their work is to watch them carefully cradling cup and little milk jugs close to them, working quietly and intently. They call you and your order by name, the coffee is fabulous to look at, but far, far better to drink. But the reason that my morning trips to Taylor St Baristas is quite so satisfying is about more than just the final coffee, but this sense of physical storytelling that forms a very conscious part of the experience.
I’ve been talking a lot recently about storytelling, both with designers and information architects. What I mean by this is the importance of explaining what you do, your thinking process – or ‘showing your working’ as I think of it from a distant memory of Higher Maths – as much about showing what you’ve discarded along the way, as what you’re recommending. It’s in storytelling that you reveal your craft.
This isn’t without a little pragmatism too. If you can show the ideas that ended up as crumpled balls of paper on the floor, the more you anticipate the likely questions about your conclusions, the more you create consensus.
But more than this, it’s this storytelling that clients are often buying when they employ your expertise. Clients want to see how you’ve thought your way through as problem as much as the conclusion, but yet I’ve sat in more client meetings than I’d care to mention where, with seats barely warmed, the ‘big reveal’ is made, with little explanation or context. No wonder a client can feel a little short-changed.
I feel like I’m a walking advert for the wonders of Whitney Hess at the moment, but she’s made an important point about the need for user experience designers to sell themselves and their craft, our craft. I’ve talked about the need to promote yourself elsewhere, but when it comes to craft, for me this is all about storytelling: having the confidence to share how you think, how you go about creating your work and taking your client with you. Storytelling is critical to the experience of understanding. The more you see a really good barista go about their work, the better the coffee tastes.
Leave a comment
Leisa Reichelt
18 December, 11:39 AM #
ah, the fact that you can actually get a flat white in London is miracle enough, brought to you by Taylor St. I only wish they were on route to my clients more often!
Andrew Travers
18 December, 11:44 AM #
Leisa, I think you’ve just stumbled across a new ‘golden rule’ for future projects…
Whitney Hess
23 December, 10:32 PM #
“Walking adverts” always appreciated :) Happy Holidays and hugs from NYC.
Andrew Travers
24 December, 12:37 PM #
Thanks Whitney, the same to you from London and thanks for the unofficial mentoring.
Benn Glazier
5 January, 01:39 PM #
The mythical flat white.
I’m yet to find one in East or North London. But I’ve only been here 5 weeks – so my search continues.
Andrew Travers
5 January, 02:40 PM #
Benn, get yourself along to Nude Espresso on Hanbury St or Brick Lane Coffee on, erm, Brick Lane and your search will be complete – both really nice places with reassuringly Aussie staff…
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