Storyboarding

Summary

A storyboard is a low fidelity prototype consisting of a series of screen sketches. They are used by designers to illustrate and organize their ideas and obtain feedback. They are particularly useful for multi-media presentations.

Benefits

• Provides an overview of the system
• Demonstrates the functionality of the storyboard elements
• Demonstrates the navigation scheme
• Can check whether the presentation is accurate and complete
• Can be evaluated by users.

Method

• Use context of use and scenarios as input.
• Brainstorm ideas, this may include lists, charts, doodles, and quick notes
• Select the best ideas: re-consider the project requirements, time and resource constraints, and the target audience and end users. Select the top ideas and try to get feedback from others involved.
• Sketch each screen, and describe any pictures, images, animations, sound, music, video or text.

More information

Video Storyboard example

Multimedia Storyboarding- includes a storyboard template, with information about what elements to include Production Storyboard Examples - general background information, plus examples

Web storyboard explanation.

Variations

Storyboards can be used as a way of describing the user's everyday activities as well as the potential designs and impact they will have.

Storyboards are most flexible when they are hand-drawn, but more realism and some animation and interaction can be created by using a package like PowerPoint.

Next steps

Evaluate the storyboard.

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