Margaret Chandra Kerrison’s book, The Art of Immersive Storytelling: Strategies from the Gaming World, explores how techniques that keep players engrossed in games can engage participants in immersive experiences. She writes engagingly, demystifying her process and encouraging designers to ensure their designs’ intentionality.
A senior creative director at TAIT, Kerrison leads creative teams in developing groundbreaking concepts for location-based entertainment, placemaking, and immersive experiences. She was previously Walt Disney Imagineering’s managing story editor for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, followed by senior experiential creative lead for story development for Airbnb, where she led the narrative development and strategy for new experiential product concepts.
Kerrison was the 2023 Paul Helmle Fellow at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Architecture. She taught and led a workshop on narrative building for designers of environments before returning as a lecturer to teach an advanced seminar in 2023 on Immersive Storytelling & Narrative Placemaking for Architecture.
Her new book builds on her previous works, the groundbreaking Immersive Storytelling for Real and Imagined Worlds: A Writer’s Guide and Reimagined Worlds: Narrative Placemaking for People, Play, and Purpose.
She tells blooloop about the curiosity that has driven her career and underpins her expertise.
Exploring different opportunities
Kerrison, who has been at TAIT since September 2024, was working as a consultant when the company contacted her. “TAIT is traditionally known for creating stages for some of the biggest live events in the world and for offering advanced technology to power a lot of the experiences we know and love.
“It was TAIT’s software that powered Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. They reached out because they sought a creative lead with a strong storytelling background. With a company motto of “We create moments that move people,” I was intrigued.”
She has found the variety compelling:
“I love working with different industries. I’m interested in architecture, urban planning, and games – I want to explore different opportunities to help people and organisations share their stories with the world. Curiosity has always been my guiding light, and I was curious about this company.
An eclectic range of people have reached out after reading her books:
“Since the publication of my second book, I have been approached by urban planners, architects and designers – people who want to build a better world.”
Much of their interest concerns building places rooted in location-based storytelling:
“They have an interest in cultural storytelling. There is an emerging awareness of a location’s environmental surroundings and a concern around how they can contribute to that community rather than taking from it.
“I’ve been approached by a range of retail brands keen to find ways to engage meaningfully with their customer base. If that is done compellingly, those customers will become lifelong fans.”
Different ways to tell stories
She enjoys the challenge of finding different ways to tell stories:
“Before I came to Imagineering, my world was narrative placemaking and museum design. I’m glad I joined Imagineering to learn about theme parks and location-based storytelling. Since then, because I want to keep learning, I have been jumping industries to fill my well of curiosity and to disseminate and share what I have learned.”
While teaching at California State Polytechnic University, a student asked her to explain her approach when starting any project:
“It is crucial to start with a beginner’s mindset. Assume you know nothing or that you have the wrong information. Then, research and learn – and invite appropriate people into that conversation to ensure you understand it from all points of view.
“We all come in with our unconscious bias and lived experiences. All of us have different interpretations of a particular story or topic. You must make sure that you’re designing from a holistic perspective.”
The Art of Immersive Storytelling: Strategies from the Gaming World centres the creator in their experience, drawing out their perspective and its value:
“How you differentiate yourself… is to concisely share your unique perspective in the context of your world. When your participant comes to your experience, they subconsciously want to know: ‘What do YOU think?’
Storytelling strategies from the gaming world
This book builds on her previous work by expanding the lens through which we view storytelling, taking strategies from the gaming world and applying them to immersive experiences across industries.
“My earlier work focused on narrative design in theme parks and other immersive experiences. Here, I’m broadening the scope to show how the principles of storytelling in gaming can be applied to everything from museums to education. It’s a culmination of my years of experience, weaving together tools, techniques, and case studies into a unified guide for creators.”
For Kerrison, the process of writing is informed by a desire to learn:
“As I write, I often realise that there are some things that I’ve never articulated to myself. In the act of writing, the process emerges. The moment I know something or learn something, I want to share it. As a fan of experiences, I want to visit more amazing, compelling, meaningful ones. So, I hope this will influence other designers to create them.”
Perspective is key:
“Walt Disney taught, ‘always walk in the guest’s shoes.’ Gaming is similar: it is about putting yourself in the player’s shoes. The creative director thinks about the story of the world, but the narrative designer is designing for the player, always asking, ‘What is my journey as the protagonist, the hero, the player going through this story world?’”
An active experience
Gaming has transformed people from passive consumers of content into active agents driving their experience:
“Gaming is one of the most interactive and engaging mediums we have. Its principles—interactivity, player agency, and deep world-building—offer a blueprint for crafting transformative, real-world experiences. Gaming empowers participants to be part of the story, and that drove me to explore how these strategies can create meaningful, immersive storytelling in physical spaces, where stories come alive in three dimensions.”
She cites some of the key principles from video game design that can be applied to crafting immersive experiences in the real world:
“Key principles include player agency, allowing participants to feel they have control or influence within the experience. There’s also iterative storytelling, so designing narratives that evolve based on interaction and world-building, creating rich, consistent settings that immerse the audience.
Other principles include onboarding and tutorials, which guide participants without overwhelming them, similar to the opening levels of a game, and feedback loops, which reinforce participant actions with immediate and meaningful responses.
Kerrison has worked at the intersection of storytelling and design, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to craft worlds that invite participation:
“These experiences taught me the importance of crafting compelling narratives while balancing practical design constraints, and that perspective is infused throughout the book.”
The importance of context
Her career has afforded her a unique vantage point:
“If content is king, then context is queen. Content alone isn’t enough to engage people—context provides the why, the emotional resonance, and the cultural relevance that makes a story meaningful. Understanding the environment, the audience, and the medium is critical to creating experiences that resonate. We must meet our visitors where they are.”
By creating a space where the visitor’s context informs the layers of content and the way they engage with it, you offer them the agency to curate their journey:
“Context is what makes people resonate emotionally with your world. It’s a way for them to understand why it matters; in understanding that, they become more engaged and want to engage in different ways.”
Kerrison cites Sleep No More, the New York City production of an immersive work by Punchdrunk, as an experience that gives the visitors’ perspectives free rein:
“At first, I was confused about how I was supposed to experience the story,” she says. “Gradually, I let go of wanting to make sense, and was happy to have these strange encounters and scenes unfold before me without knowing everything. It was freeing.”
Designers must be intentional about their designs, but there can be room for the audience to forge their own interpretation within that intention.
Throughout Sleep No More, there were moments where a visitor was selected to participate in a particular scene or to go through a secret door. Such moments are ways of making the visitor feel singled out:
“These moments of delight, of unpredictability, confer a sense of wonder that is increasingly elusive as we get older.”
Strategies from gaming – a creative storytelling sandbox
While the lessons Kerrison has learned from playing video games inform her work as a creative, it is the compelling real-world experiences that she feels we need now more than ever.
She reiterates the message of her second book, Reimagined Worlds: “Human beings are social animals and need social interaction to thrive. We need to be in shared places with others to be at leisure with one another.”
The real-life world of themed experiences, however, with its social dimension that the virtual world lacks, offers benefits – and poses obstacles:
“In theme parks, you can physically see other people partaking in the same world. The challenge is how to give everyone that feeling of agency when there are other people around them experiencing the same world.”
Kerrison describes her book as a ‘creative sandbox’ that encourages designers to interrogate their intentions and objectives on a granular level. By centring the creator in their experience, their voice and its value emerge.
“In immersive storytelling, intention is the compass that guides every decision, from overarching narrative to the smallest design detail. Visitors don’t understand the story you’re trying to tell without a clear sense of purpose or their role within it.”
What and how
Being intentional starts with answering questions: ‘What message or feeling do I want visitors to leave with? What actions or thoughts should this experience inspire?’
“Once you establish these foundational goals, they become the anchor for every creative choice, from the physical layout and aesthetics to the pacing of the narrative and the way interactions unfold.
“Equally important is having a clear point of view (POV) as a designer, in terms of the story you’re telling, and your unique voice. Knowing your POV ensures coherence and prevents a common pitfall: trying to be everything to everyone. If you’re not intentional, you risk overloading your audience with conflicting elements, diminishing the impact of your story.”
Designers must also consider the ‘how’.
“How do the elements you create serve the experience as a whole? If the goal is to evoke wonder, the design should reflect that through a sense of discovery, awe-inspiring visuals, and surprising moments that align with the narrative.
“At its core, intentional design fosters clarity, engagement, and immersion.”
Additionally:
“The creative sandbox is a metaphor for the freedom and playfulness I encourage in designers. When creators interrogate their intentions and objectives, they discover authentic, personal insights that make their work unique.”
Meow Wolf, she says, is an excellent example of of using gaming strategies for storytelling in a physical space:
“Their immersive installations invite exploration, discovery, and personal interpretation, much like a sandbox video game. Participants are not just spectators but participants in the story, which can feel deeply personal.”
Experiential spaces
The Art of Immersive Storytelling: Strategies from the Gaming World is a roadmap to creating a compelling experiential space. The 21 jump-start questions elicit a personalised response as the creator learns to write through the lens of a gamer, enabling the mindful creation of something authentic.
Experiential spaces, Kerrison says, have the potential to inspire long-term behaviour change in visitors:
“I could probably write a whole other book about this topic. Experiential spaces engage visitors on a physical, emotional, and cognitive level, which makes them powerful tools for inspiring meaningful behaviour change.”
“When we design spaces that require people to use their whole bodies to perform actions— solving a puzzle, navigating a space, or participating in an activity—we’re tapping into a different kind of learning. Physical actions can translate into muscle and mental memory, reinforcing the ideas the experience is designed to communicate.”
These experiences often evoke emotional responses that deepen their impact. “Creating a strong emotional connection to the story or challenge encourages visitors to reflect on their behaviour and its broader implications.”
Self-interrogation is the foundation of how Kerrison teaches designers to create intentionally:
“If you’re designing a product, you have an end user. You have to be intentional and must, as a designer, understand the reason your creation has for being. When you have that intention, the end users who go through your experience should understand your message.”
Insights from experts
The visitor or player may add the filter of their own interpretative context, but they will view the experience through the clear lens of the designer’s perspective.
“The fact you are clear about your intention means everything will have a reason for being there. If something doesn’t fit, it destroys the suspension of disbelief. Every element you put in this world has to be intentional because it has to speak to the same world parameters.
“The question I ask when we start on any project is, as a visitor coming into this place, why should I care? If the designer is intentional about knowing and conveying their message, that question will be answered. When the visitor walks away after the experience, they should feel changed by the message because if not, why should this even exist?”
It’s essential to share perspectives beyond my own…When exploring how gaming storytelling techniques can influence immersive experiences, I wanted to highlight voices that bring unique and insightful perspectives to the conversation.
The book’s text is peppered with insights from leaders in the field whom Kerrison has interviewed:
Todd Martens, an interactive entertainment and theme park journalist for the Los Angeles Times; Wendy McClellan Anderson, director of IP creative – story at Riot Games; Amber Samdahl, creative director at PBS Wisconsin and former executive creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering; Bruce Vaughan, chief creative officer of Walt Disney Imagineering; and Kamal Sinclair, senior director of digital innovation at The Music Centre in Los Angeles.
“For me, it’s essential to share perspectives beyond my own. I’m just one voice in a sea of diverse ideas and viewpoints. When exploring how gaming storytelling techniques can influence immersive experiences, I wanted to highlight voices that bring unique and insightful perspectives to the conversation.
“Each of these voices adds something invaluable to the dialogue that pushes the boundaries of immersive storytelling. There are so many other people I could have included!”
Gaming and education
The book also touches on gaming storytelling strategies in education, citing the work leveraging technology to enhance storytelling experiences by designer and University of Southern California professor Alex McDowell at the World Building Media Lab (WbML) and Dreamscape Learn, a collaborative venture between Dreamscape Immersive and Arizona State University:
“Programs like WbML and Dreamscape Learn illustrate how gaming techniques can revolutionise education. By using interactive narratives and immersive environments, they make learning engaging and experiential. Students inhabit stories, leading to deeper understanding and retention. Imagine if every educational program functioned this way.”
Duolingo, she contends, is an example of gamified learning.
In terms of broadening their understanding of the narrative design process, she says:
“I hope readers come away with a deeper appreciation for the power of narrative design and the tools to craft their own compelling experiences. By demystifying the creative process, I hope to empower designers to push boundaries and tell stories that resonate.”
The future of immersive storytelling, she believes, lies in the seamless convergence of virtual and physical realms, where technologies like AR, VR, and MR will continue to blur the lines between digital and physical:
“This merging of worlds creates hybrid experiences that are both visually stunning and deeply interactive, offering participants a sense of agency, personalisation, and presence.”
Gaming strategies and the role of AI in storytelling
The role of advanced tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) in this evolution is exciting:
“AI can revolutionise how we design and experience immersive stories. It enables us to create personalised narratives that adapt dynamically to each participant. Imagine a story that learns your preferences and evolves in real time based on your emotional responses, actions, or biometrics.
“With AI, storytelling becomes not just interactive but genuinely responsive. These experiences will transform how we connect with stories, each other, and the world around us. This future is not only about entertainment but about creating profound moments that resonate deeply and inspire change.”
Our desire for connection, however, will endure:
“We want to feel more connected with ourselves and others in a way that reminds us how it feels to be human again. Often, when we interact with others, it’s through our screens. Nothing can replace in-person connections and experiences.
“The desire to connect in real life is something we are all seeking because we are social beings. We are animals trying to feel validated regarding how we bring value into our pack. Am I seen and valued? Do I feel I have something to contribute?”
This, she suggests, is why Dungeons and Dragons remains so popular:
“People enter an immersive world, take on a role, and participate and engage. They are valued and empowered; they bring their unique voice, skills and experience. Others around them can appreciate what they bring to the table, literally and figuratively.”
The power of stories
Kerrison recently taught a two-week course at The California Institute of the Arts on world-building, inspired by the recent LA wildfires:
“As designers, as creatives, what can we do to contribute to a community that has lost everything and has to rebuild? I gave the class an assignment to create an experience to inform, inspire, and influence people to act on the climate crisis. As designers and storytellers, we may not be scientists or engineers.
“However, we can help people imagine what our world could be like if everyone took a particular action in real life.”
“The challenge I proposed was: How do you inspire people in your immersive experience to want to take action in real life? This is about finding a way for us, as designers and storytellers, to create an impact that goes beyond what is, and towards what could be.”
Stories have power, particularly in the context of a shared real-world experience:
“Stories are a great way to convey a message because we’re programmed to understand characters who come across obstacles and who have antagonists. We all root for those characters at the end of the story to attain their goal.”
Places of connection
And what of her next book?
“I’m starting to write now,” she says. “I think it will be a collection of essays on different topics related to creative placemaking.
“I wrote previously that as designers, we shape the world but forget that our world also shapes us. Whatever you put out in the world, people will be affected by it in ways you don’t foresee. From the design of offices and houses to theme parks, how you make people move through your space- what they see and touch- is significant.
“We’re no different from the lab rat running through the tunnels of a maze as part of a science experiment.
“What we design and put out in the world will shape us, so we have to be intentional about it. Are we including nature, for instance, all the elements that connect us back to our humanity, rather than detaching us from it?
“We need more places of connection, shared experiences, and community to foster that sense of belonging and safety. I want to inspire designers, architects, and urban planners to be intentional. What they create will last for generations. I want them to build places that we can share with our loved ones, connecting us with our greater community and allowing us to find meaning in our everyday existence.”
The Art of Immersive Storytelling: Strategies from the Gaming World is released on 25 February 2025.
