Immersive Experience Design: How to Use Story to Design Work Experiences | Stacy Barton, Revisited

Nov 11, 2025

Stacy Barton, an experienced immersive experience designer with over 37 years in the industry, shares her insights on creativity under pressure and the transformative power of storytelling. She discusses how constraints can ignite innovation and the importance of the audience as the centerpiece of design. Barton's unique strategies for engaging customers and fostering team dynamics highlight the role of appreciation and emotional connection in the workplace. Tune in for her valuable tips on crafting immersive experiences that resonate in both business and entertainment.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Audience As The Protagonist

Stacy Barton centers every design on the audience, treating them as the protagonist of the experience.
She invites participation and makes the audience feel necessary to the show.

ADVICE

Use Three Guiding Questions

Start with three guiding questions: who's the audience, what's the promise, and how will you deliver it.
Design toward an emotional takeaway that the audience will carry with them.

ADVICE

Invite And Love The Audience First

Look people in the eye and show them they're invited to participate.
Prioritize loving and including the audience before hoping they love you back.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Stacy Barton was assigned an exhaustive project at 9 pm and had to complete it by 6 am if she wanted to receive a paycheck. While most of us would have deflated under the pressure, Stacy saw an opportunity; it was time to get creative. By being inventive and working around the rules, she learned how to deliver a product that companies, employees, and her audience love. In this revisited episode, Stacy shares how constraints spark creativity, why the audience is always the star, and how storytelling can transform leadership, teamwork, and workplace culture.

Stacy has been creating multimillion-dollar immersive experiences for over 37 years as a designer, award-winning writer, and story lead. She uses her creativity to work with high-network individuals and companies like Disney, Ringling Bros, DreamVision, and SeaWorld, among others.

In this episode, Dart and Stacy discuss:
- Creating an immersive experience to engage customers
- How to show your customers/employees you care about them
- Discovering the story behind your brand
- Finding employees that complement your company
- The importance of appreciation at work
- Applying storytelling to real-world business problems
- Being creative within the constraints of work
- And more…

Stacy Barton has been creating immersive experiences as a designer, writer, and story lead for over 37 years. Utilizing immense creativity and problem-solving skills, she helps build multimillion-dollar pop-up experiences, escape rooms, shows, and theme park areas for high-network individuals and companies, including Disney, Ringling Bros, DreamVision, and SeaWorld.

As a writer, Stacy brings stories to life through her scripts, narrative development, and novels. She is the award-winning author of three books, five children’s picture books, and over 30 magazine publications. She presented as a panelist for the National Association of Writers and Writing Program and is a speaker for events such as the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference and the Disney Institute.

Resources Mentioned:
Why We Work, by Barry Schwartz: https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Work-Barry-Schwartz/dp/144237814X

Connect with Stacy:
Website: https://www.stacybarton.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacy-barton-58b7997/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Stacy-Barton/author/B001JS4R6A

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.