Are experiences really stories?

I’ve recently been reading quite a few articles about storytelling. So I got to thinking… are these the same things as the “experiences” I’ve been talking about? Well, kinda, but it is more about the interplay of the two…

The way I see it, the difference is that experiences are a series of user-engaging tasks with a product. For example, say someone buys a MacBook Air–he goes through several experiences: search experience, purchase experience, shipping/delivery experience, packaging experience, first-run experience, usage experiences, and extended experiences (i.e. installing apps, getting accessories, etc.). Together, this series of experiences interrelates via a story.

So if a product manager storyboarded all of these experiences at the earliest stages of product development, then he has likely engaged the customer. And knowing the story should help all teams working on the product to create the necessary relational experiences. This includes working with all parties in the supply chain–from SEO folks to shippers to 3rd-party companies.