How Airbnb Proved That Storytelling is the Most Important Skill in Design | Inc.com

Want to know the secret to Airbnb's success and world-class user experience? You might want to turn to the Disney movie Snow White. But before I can explain why, let me introduce you to Tom Wolfe. Tom Wolfe was known for revolutionizing journalism in the 60's by combining the colorful storytelling more commonly used in fiction writing, and applying it to his non-fiction reporting. In the opening pages of one of his books, The Painted Word, Wolfe describes his sudden, astonishing epiphany about the radical movement of contemporary art--in particular, about the rise of abstract paintings that you look at and think, "Well, I could've made that." Wolfe's epiphany was sparked by a New York Times critique of realism art. In short, the critic-in-chief wrote that, without a theory to go with it, it's hard to appreciate a painting. Wolfe vividly recalls reading this and being rattled, having a serious "aha moment." For the first time, he finally understood contemporary art. "All these years I,

Want to know the secret to Airbnb's success and world-class user experience? You might want to turn to the Disney movie Snow White. But before I can explain why, let me introduce you to Tom Wolfe. Tom Wolfe was known for revolutionizing journalism in the 60's by combining the colorful storytelling more commonly used in fiction writing, and applying it to his non-fiction reporting. In the opening pages of one of his books, The Painted Word, Wolfe describes his sudden, astonishing epiphany about the radical movement of contemporary art--in particular, about the rise of abstract paintings that yo